Did you know that a lot of manufacturing companies are moving away from traditional conveyor lines to more efficient production processes? Moreover, did you know that the process can be even more efficient if they use all their space wisely and take advantage of every unused inch in their facility?
It’s not just about saving on costs anymore, although this is still important. The way we produce goods has changed; it is now about producing goods with less waste and maximizing efficiency. That is why we need to optimize our production lines for maximum efficiency. In this post, we will tell you how.
What are the systems manufacturers are using to increase efficiency and save space?
There are several, but in this post, we will focus on the most common ones.
Wider conveyor belts
Wide belt conveyor systems maximize the use of space in a facility. A good example would be if you run multiple products on one line (think about car manufacturing).
Each product needs its own spot to stand steady before getting carried over to the next station where another section attaches it to something else or paints something. A conveyor belt system with multiple products running on them can actually be compared to an assembly line.
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Now imagine the problem you would have if you tried to run all your cars in one line and just let them stand there before they start moving again. You would end up having a pile-up of cars at some point and that’s why wide belts are so important. They don’t waste any space which means every single spot is being used.
It works the same way for single product lines as well. Think about the production process of footwear or clothing. When it comes to these industries, things like elastic and zippers need specific spots in order for the whole process to work properly and efficiently.
You can’t have an entire conveyor belt full of things like zippers and elastic. It simply isn’t going to work, which is why you need a wider conveyor belt to have all the items needed to assemble the garment more quickly.
The most important reason for using wide belts is by saving money. If you use high-efficiency wide belt conveyors in your facility instead of traditional narrow ones you will be able to reduce energy consumption between 25 percent and 35 percent; increase production speed up to 100 percent; improve flexibility by 800 percent.
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Therefore, if a company has 3 shifts per day, this means that the new system can operate 24 hours versus only 12 before.
Cartoner Machines
If you produce containers, time-saving machines can also be helpful. For example, a cartoner machine can be a boon to a box manufacturer. You may be wondering what is a cartoner machine?
This machine is used in the production process of paper, plastic, and many other boxes. It is a device that can slip boxes into place before sealing them up with an adhesive strip or glue (depending on what you’re making).
When time is money, this process will allow your company to save thousands of dollars every day. The advantages of a cartoner machine are that it optimizes space in production lines, works with a minimum amount of people, and increases packaging speed and efficiency.
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In the end, it is all about being as efficient as possible while minimizing waste. And any little thing you can do to increase your equipment or production line’s efficiency improves your bottom line.
Reviewing current manufacturing workflows
This one is more focused on increasing production efficiency. This can be crucial in order to improve productivity and employee morale. When you review, you can see areas that are not functioning as efficiently and decide what to do about them.
In other words, this review should serve as the first step in your journey to enhanced productivity. While it is important not to jump in and change everything, it is crucial that you review what areas are working well and which ones could use improvement.
Running a business means being able to adapt to changing conditions whether they be internal or external; therefore, don’t get too comfortable in every area of your production line that is functioning well. Use this opportunity for growth while also improving morale across the board.
Automating jobs where possible
We have already talked about how important it is to increase production efficiency. Well, what if we told you that there are some ways for your company to save a significant amount of money each year?
Automation can help you with this and it is gaining popularity in many manufacturing facilities. For example, when you automate transport products from one point to another, this means no more manual labor. This equates to less human error as well as less space taken up on the factory floor.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re using something like robotics or automatic conveyor belts, these tools will allow you to scale back on having workers doing monotonous tasks day in and day out.
It is a good strategy because it allows the workers who still need to work with their hands to be able to do so while freeing others up for other tasks.
This means that all this time and resource that is not being used by having extra staff members or machines/equipment lying around can be redirected.
They can go into bettering other aspects of your company like increasing research and development efforts, expanding production capabilities, developing new products, or repairing the ones you have now.
The tips in this blog post should help you save space and time. To recap, here are some of the most helpful ideas for boosting production efficiency that we’ve discussed so far: Investing in higher-quality tools will improve your output rate by freeing up valuable resources like storage space and personnel hours.
This can be done with greater automation and technologies like wider conveyor belts and cartoner machines for example. Reviewing your processes occasionally as well can help you decide what other efficiency and space-saving methods you can implement.