Accumulating Value
$1,800,000 Per Downtime a Day
Industry
Warehousing & Distribution
Product
Segmented Transfer Plates
PROBLEM
A major fulfillment center in Europe was experiencing serious downtime issues at what they labeled their “high-risk” transfers. The small gaps in between these transfers were significant enough to either trap smaller packages, polybags, Jiffy® bags, or envelopes in between conveyors, or let them fall below to be cleared out at a later time. Package damage, belt damage, product jams, and product losses were causing unscheduled downtime for the system, and therefore was affecting the bottom line. On average, facility technicians were spending 45 minutes per transfer issue to return the conveyor to service. The four high-risk transfers were each seeing one incident a day. With an estimated cost of downtime hovering at approximately $10,000/minute, the operation was looking at $450,000 an incident and $1.8 million/day in downtime costs.
SOLUTION
After hearing of the success of Flexco Segmented Transfer Plates at their U.S. locations, the operations manager reached out to the local representative to see if they would be a good solution. Flexco Segmented Transfer Plates position each plastic segment directly on the belt, which prevents product ingestion and reduces crush points and pinch hazards. When installed properly, the light seal against the belt prevents items from becoming lodged between the belt and the plate. In the rare event an envelope or polybag gets in between the segment and the belt, the segment will lift or eject, allowing the trapped package to release. The plate can then be repaired in seconds by simply snapping a new segment in place, resulting in no damage to the belt, conveyor structure, or packages, while significantly reducing conveyor downtime.
RESULT
Thanks to the installation of the Segmented Transfer Plates, packages, envelopes, and polybags are no longer slipping under the conveyor or getting caught in the transfers. No transfer issues now saves the operation at least $1.8 million in potential downtime each day, not to mention the money saved in conveyor belts costs and damaged or lost package fees. Most importantly, less downtime means more uptime, higher throughput, and happy customers. A small investment in Flexco Segmented Transfer Plates produced a huge, immediate ROI for the distribution center.
What Does Flexco Accumulating Value Mean?
When you see the Flexco Accumulating Value (FAV) icon, you can expect a Real-Life Result that represents the measurable, repeatable value added to an operation through its investment in a Flexco solution.
FAV results document the ongoing dollar value realized with implementation of Flexco products or services and details how that value helps operations achieve and maximize their productivity, efficiency, throughput, output, and uptime.