Hot, sandy foundry equipped for uptime
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/1999
Eureka Foundry Company is nearly 100 years old and was not designed for highly mechanized processes, says Peter Hetzler, plant manager. The Chattanooga, Tenn. firm operates a full-service, short-run general jobbing foundry, machine, and pattern shop. "Our runs are short and varied, so lift trucks provide the most flexible way to handle materials in the plant," Hetzler adds."Our strategy was that we would run a lift truck until it died, but we found it was hard to kill one. We could always find parts, so we kept fixing the trucks. We were always fighting to get one or two lift trucks back in service at any one time," Hetzler says.
Foundry environments are notoriously hard on equipment, especially lift trucks. Caustic and abrasive casting sand is everywhere in the plant. It stirs up easily and looks for ways to get into any moving component. Cooling systems on lift trucks must be in top condition to keep these units carrying maximum loads in this very hot environment.
Abrasive particles also try to find their way past seals and cylinder packing to chew up bearings, wear away rods, and, over time, destroy pumps. Air cleaners have to fight to get clean air into the engine
Foundry maintenance manager Jim Davis needed a solution quickly. Even with a full-time mechanic on the job, Davis was spending on average 20% of his day addressing lift truck problems. "I was always looking for rentals and chasing parts," he adds.
A local dealer surveyed the plant and then recommended turnkey maintenance as part of a long-term lease agreement. Comparing internal maintenance costs against the costs of long-term lift truck leasing with full maintenance, Davis and Hetzler found that leasing made sense. "That was more than four years ago, and it still makes sense today," says Davis.
The first lease agreement replaced seven old lift trucks of various brands with six new models ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 lb capacity. A dealer mechanic came into the plant every two weeks to service the vehicles. Features which help avoid downtime include an engine shutdown system that monitors engine temperature, oil pressure, and transaxle temperature.
"We find these trucks are equipped to hold up in foundry use," says Hetzler. "The solid tires and the extra air filtering capacity are essential. With solidly designed equipment like this, we have more time to handle other matters."
Clark
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