Project
Improving efficiency in a wheel blasting pipeline
Client
A wheel manufacturing specialist
Location
Lincolnshire, UK
Brief
To find a way to help the client meet growing customer demand
Improving Wheel Blasting Efficiency
A large agricultural wheel and tyre manufacturer reached out to Airblast Eurospray with a challenge: to help them improve their efficiency by greatly reducing the time required for wheel surface preparation.
Founded in 1981, the firm had been supplying wheels to the agricultural industry for decades. Servicing tyre distributors and agricultural dealers nationwide had resulted in good business growth. As a result, it needed to upgrade its production pipeline to meet growing demand.
The Solution
The company had tried taking on extra staff to increase output, and its manual operators were able to blast a 59-inch tractor wheel in around an hour. If the wheel in question had a particularly tough coating, this would have to be removed with a blow torch before blasting could begin, increasing the average time taken to around two and a half hours.
The company still felt that further gains were possible and, having heard good things about automated blasting machinery, they approached Airblast Eurospray in search of a solution that would meet their needs. After discussing these in detail and assessing the facilities at their factory in South Lincolnshire, Airblast Eurospray was able to provide a shot blasting machine that could strip and prepare each wheel in less than five minutes per side. This constituted a six-fold increase in productivity.
The Results
During its trials, the veteran manufacturer was pleasantly surprised by the efficiency of Airblast Eurospray’s solution. The company’s director said, “What would normally take us an hour in the blast room has taken just under 10 minutes.” He was also pleased with the speed of the installation, which resulted in minimal disruption and was completed a day earlier than expected. Once the equipment was installed, Airblast Eurospray provided full training to staff, ensuring they could operate the equipment safely and efficiently.
The wheel machine is now fully operational, and its effect on productivity is becoming apparent. “We used to process maybe 40 wheels a day, but now we’re able to do a lot more,” he said. “Last year was our best year to date and this is really going to help that continue.”
