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Notes
from the Road… The Standard Guide to Rotomolding Troubleshooting How many variables are there in rotomolding? Actually, how
many variables are there that can be directly influenced by operators? Answer:
142. How are they related? Who knows and who cares? Given the complexity of this
as a starting point, it is amazing how consistent the standard procedure for
troubleshooting in many rotomolding plants often is. Compare the following
approach with the approach in your factory and see how many points you score: To fix a problem….
One of the misleading things about rotomolding all over the
world is that a rotomolded part can very often be attractive long before it
becomes effective. The attractive rotomolded part is often sufficient to pass
visual inspection and for many roles is perfectly acceptable, but beware the
problems which lie just below the surface! When the application involves any
stress, be it from sudden impact or long term, the part needs to be effective.
Simply put the material needs to be uniform, properly molded and exhibiting full
physical properties. It’s always good (but unfortunately not as common as it
should be) to see molders where their people know what this means and have
appropriate tests to check their parts in conditions relevant to service
conditions. Review your effective quality procedures now! Balance in all Things In life, balance in all things is important but perhaps
even more so in rotomolding. We need d balanced molds on the machine for balanced rotation to protect bearings and motors d balanced heat and air flow in the oven to ensure uniform heat transfer d balanced material flow in the part to reduce warpage effects d balanced heating, cooling and demolding times for a steady rhythm at the operator station d balanced people approaches - accept that people will not necessarily stay with you forever and try to create an environment where energetic workers give you what you need for a year or two and then move on, to their betterment and yours. d balanced workloads as the key to success for any operation – set up the system to balance molded work and downstream labor. Work will flow and people will feel better about their contribution. Rotomolding - The Enviro-Friendly Process Rotomolding actually is one of the most environmentally
aware processes – we tackle issues such as water storage and reuse, sewage
treatment and the elimination of wood products in general. But fast-forward to
the year 2030 – the price of gas and plastic have made inefficient 20th
Century rotomolding a thing of the past (literally). Rotomolders have become
very inventive in how they operate and have incorporated some of the latest
environmentally friendly systems in order to keep operating. ‘Roto-Hybrid’
machine systems can switch between multiple energy sources including: solar
cells, wind turbine, the wife’s old treadmill or hog-farm gas. The machines
are smaller now and often made from recycled cars (which are no longer needed at
$52 a gallon gas), although there are reports that a McNeil 800 from 1956 is
still running somewhere in Reversing Globalization Anyone notice where the costs of transportation are heading? By land, sea or air, shipping anything is becoming a challenge and especially so for rotational molding when we tend to ship so much air. International agreements for licensing large products in far distant lands are increasingly common but could this spill over into more regional agreements within countries between molders to share products and molds to satisfy local demands using less transport? A sort of cooperative of molders working in common markets? |
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