For 12 years, preventative maintenance crews at Ford Motor's parts distribution center in Dallas, Texas were kept busy changing conveyor rollers and replacing worn out bearings.

Maintenance costs, in fact, increased to the point that purchasing new rollers was less expensive. But then Ford decided to search for a better solution to its maintenance problems.

That search yielded a supplier of replacement rollers with a 10-year service life guarantee on these components. Rollers from this supplier significantly reduced maintenance costs. And, as an added bonus, these new rollers lowered noise levels in the orderpicking area.

This 315,000 square foot Dallas facility inventories more than 58,000 parts. Once its conveyor system is turned on, it runs constantly until all orders are filled. That process takes about 21 hours a day.

In this type of operation, it doesn't take long for conventional rollers to begin to wear out. As rollers wear the sounds they make go from a slight squeak or squeal to a louder noise. Within months the roller stops spinning. Then maintenance needs to pull the roller, pop out the bearing, press in a new bearing, and reinstall the roller.

The rollers with the 10-year service life have tapered hex shafts and precision bearings. The shaft design is spring-loaded to lock into the conveyor side frame, eliminating rattle and subsequent wear. Self-adjusting tapers wedge tightly into place, regardless of the condition of the mounting holes. The tapers seat tightly in worn holes as well as in "rounded" hex holes, preventing further wear.

Interroll
800-362-9616
www.interroll.com