In the drive for continuous improvement and continuous flow, major Global manufacturing brands are investing in smart technology to eliminate dirt. Why?
| Dirt is commonly overlooked when reviewing bottleneck analysis and the principles of Kaizen. But, when you think about it, ingress of dirt does not stop at the door. Unless it is eliminated at source, it just stays there until the next transport vehicle or pedestrian travels over it and takes the dirt further and deeper into your storage and production areas till it causes issues inside your facilities and production lines. The further it travels, the smaller the dirt particles become, and the greater damage caused. |  |
Here’s how one improvement can continually eliminate waste (Kaizen) and strengthen the weakest link in the manufacturing process (bottleneck analysis).
#1 – Cleaning
- Clean factories demand continuous cleaning. Unless you eliminate dirt at source, you will extend your cleaning cycle by approximately 40%. The further the dirt travels, the more surfaces to clean.
- If your current cleaning regime requires the use of a sweeper or motor scrubber, they only clean during usage. What happens when the next vehicle or pedestrian walks through a key entrance point in your production process. New dirt!
Let’s do the math?
Using a reactive approach to cleaning requires labour / resource. Labour, i.e. manpower, based on new minimum hourly wage (as at April 2018) will cost in excess of £14,000 per annum (based on 35-hour week). Multiply that by the number of cleaners, equipment, entrances (indoor and outdoor) in your production process and it adds up.
One major UK food manufacturer adopted a proactive approach to dirt control and reduced their cleaning budget by 78%. This enabled them to redeploy resource to raise standards elsewhere – and so continues the continuous circle of lean manufacturing.
ProfilGate® is the perfect solution for the reduction of dirt, which is transported into your facility by vehicles or people.
The innovative system cleans tyres, casters, wheels and footwear, purely mechanically while driving or walking over. The patented brush strips actively work due to their inherent tension and angled bristle position. ProfilGate® works 24 hours a day without any external energy supply needed.
By strategically placing ProfilGate® throughout your building, you can now capture up to 90 % of dirt – which is otherwise attached to your wheels, casters, tyres and footwear – before it migrates and enters your production facility.
Why not download the ProfilGate® brochure to find out more or call us on 0845 0700 624.