By switching to an overhead conveyor, bath maker, Westerbergs, has raised productivity by 75% and cut handling errors and product damage. Based at Hestra, 50 km cast of Gothenburg, Westerbergs had previously been using manually-pushed roller fixtures until July 1999, a relatively slow method and inevitably prone to ergonomic and damage penalties. The overhead conveyor, however, based on a unique, quiet, rotating tube and special holding frames, allows bath assembly directly on the conveyor-borne carriers, keeping the floor areas clear.
Such conveyors are supplied in Britain through ITS (UK) and are particularly favoured by retailers like Marks and Spencer and Tesco for handling hanging garments.
However, ITS has upgraded single, trolley-carrying capacity to 500 kg, which when combined with special frames, extends their capabilities into manufacturing environments where previously they would never have been considered as production tools.
When harnessed to computer control, and barcoded or otherwise tagged, these conveyors can also perform as automatic sorters over vast areas, as exemplified in Tesco's national distribution centre at Milton Keynes.
Westerbergs' 45 trolley/assembly fixtures comprise an adjustable frame holding the bath, which can be rotated, tilted and height adjusted to the most favourable working position.
All bath units move through 24 work stations, one order picking loop, and quality control before arriving at storage or packing and dispatch points, a less damage-prone movement than the previous arrangement and inherently safer.
The conveyor also automatically buffers and sorts units according to demand.
The remarkable, suspended frames not only allow for the most ergonomic positioning of baths but can be adjusted to cater for all sizes and bath shapes, including corner baths.