Reduce manufacturing costs with the right handling equipment

With the cost of living taking its toll on many households, raising prices could have a huge impact on sales.  This is especially true for consumer items like food and grocery as households tighten the belt. 

To remain competitive, manufacturing companies such must look at ways to reduce manufacturing costs, without compromising on quality.

There are several cost reduction strategies that can be employed to assist cost savings in your workplace.  With manufacturing time considered one the most important KPIs in a production facility, your Process Efficiency strategy is a good place to start.

By measuring and analysing process times, overall equipment effectiveness and process effectiveness for manual processes, manufacturers can identify areas of improvement to ensure the most efficient production practices are in place.

Reducing inefficient manual handling activities is the first step.  When workers are forced to handle materials, they can experience fatigue which often decreases productivity and can result in injury.  This leads to further downtime and costs.

“Using the right handling equipment not only improves manufacturing efficiency, it can also help with inventory management and flow, reduce product damage, lower handling costs and improve safety.” Explained Ron King, owner and head product designer at East West Engineering.

“Working with companies across many industries at East West Engineering we have developed many off the shelf and custom material handling solutions for our customers.”

“When recommending material handling solutions there are many factors to consider including what you are handling, how it is loaded/unloaded, available space to move around, environmental conditions, existing machinery and equipment, even the staging for implementing future changes and budget.”

“Working with companies across many industries in Australia we have developed many custom and off the shelf material handling solutions for our customers.”

“We recently supplied several BKN125 Floor Mount Tippers for installation in a leading food processing facility to help transfer produce from a nally bin onto a conveyor belt for sorting and processing. The floor mount design provides stability during the tipping operation.  Zinc plated for longevity in harsher environments a stainless-steel insert is available to suit use in the food industry. The hydraulic system is raised off the floor to reduce damage from loading machinery incidents and water on the floor.  It is also partially contained to avoid build-up of humidity and protection from material spills.”

Staging advancement is beneficial when downtime can impact existing production or when managing budgets.  Removing additional handling steps to further automate production can be added into processes at a later stage.

“Fitting up existing forklifts with an attachment like the FBT-SM Hydraulic Forward Bulk Bin Tipper can allow produce to be tipped directly from the bin without the need for an extra handling operation.

The level of handling automation and complexity is dependent on budget and should be assessed on whether it will provide actual time and cost savings to your operations.

“Our purpose-built manufacturing facility incorporates fabrication, fitting/assembly and painting operations, to allow our engineers and fabricators to work side by side on producing the right handling solution for our customers. We pride ourselves on providing quality material handling products and support that improve productivity and safety at your workplace.”

For help finding the right material handling solution, call the team at East West Engineering on 1800 061 998 or email sales@eastwesteng.com.au