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       Replace manual steel shot removal with a vacuum cleaner to solve ergonomic problems, reduce unscheduled downtime by 80%, reduce labor by more than 50%, and more effectively maintain a cleaner environment.
       Almost every manager or executive in heavy industry has heard that safety is good for business. According to OSHA’s Added Value to Safety and Health document, an effective safety and health program can mean the difference between a “profitable and unprofitable” operator.
       Eliminating manual material handling has the greatest potential to improve company productivity, product quality, and overall business competitiveness.
       Just as safety and health programs are unique to each business, the ROI of effective ergonomic measures is unique to each organization. However, when using a powerful vacuum cleaner, potential savings often occur in several key areas. In addition to eliminating ergonomic hazards and injury-related costs, cost savings can be achieved by increasing uptime, reducing labor costs, increasing productivity, improving product quality, and creating a healthier, cleaner environment.
       Workers manually remove steel shot from an auger system connected to a sandblasting machine at Cianbro’s 40,000-square-foot manufacturing and painting facility in Georgetown, Massachusetts. Cianbro hopes to eliminate this threat to ergonomics, safety, health and the environment, which has been researched by principal Chris Chipman. ways to eliminate manual processing of heavy materials.
       Cianbro operates in multiple markets in more than 40 states, independently completing civil and structural projects ranging from bridge construction to manufacturing and coating plant operations, as well as power plant and paper mill work. Cianbro is 100% employee-owned and has a comprehensive commitment to safety, having received a long list of safety awards, including being named the Healthiest and Safest Company in America by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
       The Georgetown plant produces structural steel beams for bridges and civil engineering projects. Many of these projects begin by moving a beam through a conveyor system to a sandblasting machine, where steel balls (called pellets) are fired at the beam, removing rust and scale in preparation for welding or painting. Once the steel shot hits the beam, it goes into an auger system that collects the material and returns it to the shot blasting machine for reuse.
       The sandblasting process is very mechanically complex, and if a problem occurs, workers must remove all abrasive materials from the system to perform maintenance. In these cases, two workers spent eight hours sweeping and pouring steel pellets into drums and manually transporting them from the production floor using drum carts.
       With a strong focus on safety, the goal is to alleviate the ergonomic challenges associated with handling heavy materials in confined spaces and moving heavy drums by hand. While researching solutions, Chipman saw some huge vacuum cleaners that looked like shops and thought something similar might work.
       Chipman said that after speaking with a Vac-U-Max representative, he quickly discovered that commercial vacuum cleaners were not suitable for handling large volumes of heavy abrasive materials. Representatives from Vac-U-Max were involved in another Cianbro project, applying vacuum to a bridge. “He really understood what we wanted and after further discussion we realized it could really save money on machines, downtime, production, etc.”
       Headquartered in Belleville, New Jersey, Vac-U-Max has been a pioneer in industrial vacuum cleaning and pneumatic conveying for over 60 years, with experience handling more than 10,000 bulk materials including cast iron, steel, aluminum chips, sludge. powders, flakes, granules, pellets and various others. The company manufactures industrial vacuum cleaners used in manufacturing, utility, government and environmental facilities to improve cleanliness, working conditions and safety.
       To handle heavy abrasive materials, vacuum cleaners must be designed to handle large volumes in industrial settings, and a 15-hp continuous vacuum cleaner must be rated for heavy duty vacuuming. The 1020MFS is the ideal solution, eliminating the need for workers to enter three-foot-deep trenches with limited work space. Space and awkward support for working with heavy abrasive materials.
       Although the plant is capable of processing up to five tons per hour and is designed to collect heavy materials, including steel shot, foundry sand, metal powders, slurries and other materials of a similar nature, Chipman wants to eventually ensure that the vacuum can collect them. lifting heavy objects. Special explosive environment.
       “It’s a tough thing,” Chipman said. “Each 55-gallon drum weighs approximately 2,000 pounds, and from the beginning we weren’t sure what we wanted to do was feasible. So we sent Vac-U-Max samples of the filming environment and they did some testing and were confident it would work for us.”
       The 1020 features large 14-inch rubber tires and dual swivel casters, allowing for easy maneuvering by one operator, and Cianbro mounts its rig on skids. “In our minds, push and pull is a danger and we do everything we can to avoid it,” Chipman said. “So we mount it on a skid and then use equipment to move it. It’s very portable for us because we have equipment like forklifts and forklifts and we can move it wherever we need it in the plant.” Vac-U-Max now offers an optional forklift base for the 1020 model.
       “The benefit of this vacuum system is that the hose is long enough so we can leave the collection bucket where it can be moved mechanically rather than having to move a cart manually,” Chipman said.
       Since purchasing the vacuum cleaners, the plant has reduced labor costs for emptying machines by more than 50 percent. What once took two workers eight hours to complete the task of emptying a pit now takes one worker three hours.
       “Now we can turn it off in the morning, vacuum it up and fix it the same day with just one person,” Chipman said. “Reduced maintenance labor (that would otherwise be unpaid) is now reallocated to work time on billable projects.”
       In addition to “reducing the risk of injury and being able to quickly and safely remove steel shot from machine pits for maintenance,” said Sean Ramsay, operations manager for the Georgetown plant, the vacuum cleaner has proven to be very helpful in cleaning up the area around it. Regular maintenance and cleaning of the machine. “
       In an environment where sandblasters, by their very nature, can literally break down over time, reducing wear and tear can extend equipment life and reduce the number of breakdowns and unplanned downtime. Because the vacuum makes it easy to handle heavy abrasive materials, the facility now cleans around the blast chamber and auger system several times a week, reducing wear on machine parts.
       Prior to the vacuum, the machine would break down approximately once a month, requiring the removal of all abrasive blast materials for any unscheduled maintenance or repair.
       Since implementing the vacuum, “last year we only had to clean out the entire pit twice for unscheduled maintenance, which reduced unscheduled downtime by 80 percent and increased production time,” Chipman said. “It is certainly much safer for the security officer to have someone hold the vacuum cleaner than to shove heavy media into the drum.”
       In addition to using the vacuum to initially clean shot blasters and auger steel shot, Ramsey said the facility has expanded its use of the vacuum to other areas, such as cleaning floors at another Garnet sandblasting site and at Paint. Bay “This allows us to clean up these areas more safely and quickly,” he said.
       The shop also uses vacuum cleaners to remove overspray from painting and for general cleaning of the shop. “When we do a good cleaning, we use a vacuum cleaner, which is faster and more efficient than just sweeping. And it’s cleaner,” Chipman said.
       “This product is an investment, but when you think about the likelihood of injury and beyond that, by showing accurate data, we know that it will limit downtime (which has a cost) and also reduce parts and wear while increasing service life. equipment services. it’s an easy investment,” Chipman said.