In a move designed to deliver global product availability and consistency with the fastest possible response to customer orders, Martin Engineering has announced the design of a custom moulding cell for its polyurethane conveyor belt cleaners.
By mixing, forming and curing its own designs in the modular work station – rather than subcontracting the production – the company is completely controlling the entire process, allowing one-day turnaround on most orders and even same-day shipping. As a result, customers from any region in the world can benefit from rapid deployment of belt cleaners meeting the highest standards for quality control.
“We’re one of the few manufacturers that designs and moulds its own belt cleaner blades,” explained Global Engineering manager Paul Harrison. “We’ve been manufacturing them in the USA for many years. With this modular work cell, we are now able to replicate the same manufacturing process in any of our business units, ensuring that we provide consistently high-quality products and quick delivery times virtually anywhere in the world.” The work cell combines all the elements necessary to generate mixed, coloured urethane with the forming and curing process that is specific to Martin Engineering products.
Harrison explained that by custom-engineering the process from the ground up, the design group solved many of the problems inherent to urethane moulding in other regions of the world. “The work cell is voltage- and frequency-independent,” he said. “It will function effectively whether the power source is in the USA, South Africa, China or the UK.”
Further, the new process features a universal power supply that will store enough energy to prevent a total shutdown in the event of a brown-out or temporary power interruption. In the past, a power interruption would cause materials in the mixing head to gel, requiring a large investment in manpower to clean the urethane out. This process includes emergency procedures, allowing the equipment to function long enough for operators to extract the material and shut down and prevent extended periods of downtime.
More information from Fran van der Berg, Tel: + 27(0)13 656 5135 / www.martin-eng.com
