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Conveying
Transferring toner
Telecommunications equipment manufacturer finds a hygienic solution
for transferring toner powder
OKI, Japan's first telecommunications equipment manufacturer, own C21 conveyor that is operated from a high level switch so
is currently working toward an impressive goal - expanding that there is a constant level in the filler hopper. This promotes
overseas sales from the current 35% to 50% of total sales by better volumetric accuracy for the cartridge fill.”
the year 2010. To support this goal, the company is aiming to The PIAB conveyors are transporting the toner in distances
strengthen its local structures and facilities, and amplify its ranging from 4-20m for the colour filler heads, and 4-25m for
integrated business processes, including product development the mono filler heads. With a daily throughput of 2000kg of
and manufacturing. toner powder, each conveyor is handling about 10kg of powder
“In terms of products, we have seen our share in the colour per hour.
printing market grow. This has led to increased production and
capacity requirements for our manufacturing operations,” said A clean, cost effective result
Peter Barnes, senior operations engineer at OKI. “The PIAB conveyors have exceeded our expectations in terms
Barnes works to support the company’s manufacturing of capability and performance and have lead to significant
operation at its plant in Glasgow, Scotland. Automation, Barnes improvements across the production shop floor,” said Barnes.
explains, is a way to remain competitive in a changing The use of PIAB conveyors has improved the reliability of its
manufacturing landscape while meeting those increased filling process. Barnes cited reduced downtime as a major
operation requirements. Over the last few years, OKI, like many benefit of the new conveyors, and stated that the level of
manufacturers, has seen a move toward out-sourcing to areas technical support required is incredibly low. “Our new PIAB
where labour costs are low. “A major part of my role is to systems are extremely reliable, and much more cost effective to
identify areas for improvement not only in products, but in operate than the old systems.”
manufacturing processes. This has led to us introduce more The conveyors have also proved easy to clean and simple to
automated processes and equipment.” maintain. “By switching to PIAB we have taken a huge step
forward in the cleanliness of our manufacturing facility. This is
Conveying difficult-to-handle powder without doubt a massive improvement for our workforce,
One process that the company decided to improve upon was contractors and visitors.” OKI also found that the lifecycle of
the transfer of toner powders from the plant’s ground level into PIAB’s filters was much greater than that of the previous
filler heads. “The physical properties of our toner powder had system’s filters. This has resulted in significant reductions in the
led to many leaks and blockages with our older systems,” said company’s running costs.
Barnes. “This resulted in poor housekeeping and low levels of For more information please contact PIAB on
cleanliness. It also required constant technical support from tel: +44 (0) 1509 814 280 or visit: www.piab.com
production technicians resulting in unacceptable levels of
downtime and lost production hours. A big challenge for us was
to provide an effective solution that addressed the shortfalls of
our old system at a sensible cost.”
OKI was also interested in improving the working environment
in its facility. “We wanted to enclose the point where toner
powder was loaded into hoppers. With our old systems, this
was just not practicable.”
Another component of the improvement was finding a solution
that both complied with ATEX legislation and also met/exceeded
Health & Safety regulations and guidelines.
Safe and quiet transfer
Under the recommendation of OKI’s filling machine supplier,
Allfill, the company started working with PIAB to replace its
previously specified vacuum transfer systems with 28 of PIAB’s
C21 vacuum conveyors to move the toner. The enclosed vacuum
conveyors, made of stainless steel AISI 316L (EN 1.4404), safely
and quietly handle the toner powder in the manufacturing facility.
“There are 28 filler heads which are manually operated to fill
toner cartridges,” explained Barnes. “Each filler head has its
www.solidsandbulk.co.uk August 2007 • Solids & Bulk Handling 39
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