DESCRIPTION
At the Dewsberry Works where T-beams are manufactured, it was observed that the 5mm reinforcing wire dispensed from the 'lobster pot' holders was not flowing as expected. An inspection revealed that many of the eyelets through which the wire ran had developed grooves which was creating friction and at times,
caused snagging. The wire would then need to be freed. With circa 2900 metres of the wire being used each day, these delays were impacting the efficiency of the operation.
Further research showed that there was no regular inspection of the eyelets or scheduled maintenance programme for them.
There was no agreed design and a variety of different eyelets were being used. An in-house eyelet was designed that could be easily changed and could rotate. A stock of eyelets were kept in store for future use.
BENEFITS
- More efficient operation
- Reduced wear on eyelets
- Reduced manual handling risk for operators handling wire.