When Unex Manufacturing, Inc opened its doors in Northern New Jersey over 35 years ago, the company''s primary product was a cable-driven, live roller conveyor. Over the next 20 years the line expanded to include belt and belt on wheel conveyors, as well as a patented Roller Track carton flow system.
The early 90s saw the company well positioned with an upgraded and streamlined live roller conveyor and an innovative carton flow track called Span-Track, used in such diverse settings as a BMW plant in North Carolina and a distribution warehouse for California-based frozen food retailer/wholesaler Smart and Final. By now Unex had over 100 employees and operated out of a 40,000 sq ft building in Jackson, NJ, with an additional 20,000 square feet of manufacturing space available next door.
Today the drive to produce the ultimate carton flow system continues. And one of the ways Unex has improved its products and production efficiency, as well as creating a cleaner and healthier workplace, is through the introduction of Aget Dust and Mist Collection Systems.
Before installation of the dust collectors, mist and metal dust were visible in the air. "It looked like Los Angeles on a bad day," says Howard McIlvaine, Unex''s production engineering manager. Because cutting fluid is used to lubricate saw blades on the metal cutting machinery, a fine mix of mist and metal chips filled the air in the plant. Maintenance crews would have to clean machines with portable vacs before working on them, losing valuable production time. Industrial wet/dry vacuums used on the shop floor did little to clear the air, and because the wet/dry vacs were not designed to run through an entire 8-hour shift, day after day, they constantly burned out.
More significant for Unex, however, was the condition of the finished product. Mist and metal dust would accumulate on the roller assemblies, meaning that employees had to take extra production time to hand wipe and inspect each section before packing for shipment.
That''s no longer the case. One of Unex''s suppliers uses Aget Dust Collectors in their Connecticut and Pennsylvania plants. A visit to the Pennsylvania plant convinced McIlvaine that he had found the solution to this long-term problem.
After a detailed examination of the plant''s manufacturing processes, Aget''s territory representative, T.A. Collier Associates'' Phil Grahek, P.E., recommended installation of a 2-stage Dustkop Cyclone Chip/Mist Collector with 4 after-filters for the plant''s inline bank of metal cutting saws. Grahek claims that 99% of the metal chips are separated out by the Cyclone, which pulls contaminated air into the unit at high velocity. The metal chips drop via gravity into 55 gallon barrels for easy removal. The remaining fine dust particles -- as small as 0.3 microns -- and cutting fluid mist are extracted by the after-filters. Clean air is then returned to the work area.
"Now We Can See Across the Building"
The Aget system immediately cleaned and cleared the air. One employee remarked happily: "Now we can see across the building."
The custom designed Dustkop Cyclone Chip/Mist Collector system was configured to adapt quickly to the Unex layout for easy installation, with Unex employees able to do all the work. McIlvaine was pleasantly surprised at how quiet the system is: "I expected it to be noisy as a vacuuming operation, but it operates very quietly."
Barrels of chip dust only have to be emptied every couple of days, says McIlvaine. The filters on the mist collectors allow virtually nothing to get through, except clean air. The filters are large enough that Unex could effectively double the input and get the same results.
Grahek also recommended the purchase of Mistkop Mist Collectors for the separate finishing and machining operations. After a single unit was installed, production efficiency and downtime for machine maintenance improved so much that McIlvaine added six more to his plant. According to shop floor employees, the self-contained Mistkop units set up quickly: it was simply a matter of inserting a hose to their machines and plugging in the units.
Asked how Aget Mistkop Collectors stop air pollution from cutting oils, coolant mist, and smoke, Grahek explains that these contaminants are captured at the source and filtered through specially compressed fiberglass media to reclaim valuable lubricants and return clean air to the workplace.
While usually hung near the source, Mistkops may be ordered "inverted" for floor mounting, which Grahek says was the method of choice for the Unex plant. He adds that the units are easily installed with pipe and flex hose. The non-rotating filters are easy to change and require no balancing. Howard McIlvaine anticipates adding another Dustkop Cyclone Chip/Mist Collector for additional saws soon to come online in their second building.
Now, the production lines run more efficiently because saws and other machines don''t jam. Employees no longer need to wear gloves, and they don''t have mist and dust all over their clothes and cars. As one employee put it, "We gave the Aget collectors a pat on the back."