How an Updated Assembly Conveyor System
Improves Performance for
Home Appliance Manufacturer
Pictured: Overhead structural steel installation in progress to support elevated conveyance for assembly line system. (Photo credit: Troy Busse/SilMan Industries)
West Coast-based systems integrator deepens Midwest footprint with new assembly conveyor system and controls project, including extensive overhead structural steel installation.
SilMan Industries was engaged to upgrade the material handling assembly conveyor system and controls at the facility of a leading home appliance manufacturer. The key cost-saving, value-added aspects of the cost-justified modifications hinge on four key areas:
- Insight into the client’s operation by the integration team
- System design by in-house engineering
- In-house controls group
- Veteran multi-skilled installation team, including structural steel
Together, these teams provided a seamless process from Implementation to Execution, delivering cost savings, operational efficiencies, and depth of experience.
Assembly System Improvements
The new system doubles the rate of products that can be transferred from the production facility to the warehouse, increasing the overall throughput of the facility. Additionally, the new equipment will provide decreased repair and maintenance in this section of the line, reducing downtime. The SilMan team completed the installation without unscheduled shutdowns to operations.
The installation phase was undertaken in tandem with the daily operations of the plant. Thanks to detailed planning between SilMan and the client’s leadership, shutdown periods and weekend work were strategically enacted to minimize interruptions to the production line.
System Installation in the Covid Era
The project was completed in 2020, the Louisville plant being one of the few home appliance manufacturers able to remain operational throughout the global pandemic.
Todd Sadler, who led SilMan’s onsite execution team, said, “our team’s skillset was key to winning and executing this contract, in particular, offering unique insights into manufacturer’s operation.”
The SilMan team performed all onsite work, including structural steel, mechanical, electrical and controls.
Assembly Conveyor System and Controls Integration
The scope of work for the new system includes mechanical and electrical engineering, controls design and programming, and integration of new equipment into the existing system.
The new system adds a new lane of conveyance that connects the factory floor to the warehouse, essentially doubling the volume of products passing through the final stage of production. A previously existing vertical lift was replaced with an inclined belt conveyor to match the new tempo created by the new transfer system.
Moreover, the installation of overhead structures was completed in order to expand an existing overhead run of conveyor equipment and to create a new catwalk for maintenance personnel.
For a more in-depth discussion of the scope and details, here is a case study for this assembly line conveyor system.
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Nationwide Material Handling Integration Services
In addition to the assembly conveyor system highlighted in this article, California-based SilMan Industries is an active member of the industrial community in the Midwest and Southeast regions.
Noting SilMan’s national growth strategy, David Rebata, who leads the material handling division, added “the assembly conveyor project is a great fit for our team and helps to communicate our capabilities to the vibrant industrial community in this region.”
SilMan Industries has a long history serving large-scale manufacturing companies in mid-west and mid-south states, including market-leading manufacturers such as Kobe Aluminum (automotive manufacturing equipment installation, Bowling Green, Ky.) and Brown Forman (cooperage systems, multiple locations).
SilMan Industries established their first regional office in 2010. The expansion was an outgrowth of the company’s contract to de-commissioning the NUMMI auto production line in Fremont, California, and relocating the assembly and conveyance equipment to Toyota’s Blue Springs, Mississippi facility. The extended duration of time required to transfer, install and commission the new system enabled SilMan to establish a new office in Tupelo, Mississippi.
SilMan’s office in Bardstown, Kentucky soon followed, empowering further geographic growth in eastern states.
Today, the Tupelo office supports the team’s work in the Southeast and is the home of SilMan’s engineering team.
SilMan serves a variety of manufacturing, parcel, and e-commerce companies coast to coast. (see map below of completed project locations)
Material Handling and Industrial Support Services at SilMan
SilMan’s Site Services team is a top-to-bottom tenant improvement resource – structural, civil, mechanical, and electrical services – to a diverse portfolio of companies. This group commonly collaborates with the firm’s Material Handling Division to support projects in the distribution sector.
The resulting in-house association allows SilMan to cost-effectively deploy field teams nationally, providing streamlined service and quality performance. Recent projects include material handling systems for Levi Strauss, Memphis-based parcel handling leader FedEx, and Tsubaki automotive paint and conveyance installation.
Furthermore, the two teams are currently working together to integrate a new stranded parcel ejection solution as a line modification in over 70 sites across North America. The multiple onsite teams assigned to the project provide concrete, mechanical and electrical services in a highly accelerated timeline for each location.
About the Company
SilMan Industries (previously SilMan Construction) is based in San Leandro, Calif., with Engineering and Field Operations offices in Tupelo, Miss. The firm provides integrated turnkey solutions in the Industrial, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Public Works sectors.
Notably, in 2010 SilMan Industries was contracted to dismantle and remove the NUMMI assembly line in Fremont, Calif., transport the equipment, and reinstall the system in Blue Spring, Miss., establishing Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi (TMMMS). This high-visibility project ignited the company’s meteoric growth, laying the foundation for SilMan’s national service area.
For more information, please visit www.silmanindustries.com/about.
