The Siemens facility in Fort Worth, TX, is one of the largest manufacturing plants of postal sorting equipment in the world. To improve the methods of receiving and shipping inventory, Siemens sought help from Richard Wilcox with a custom designed overhead conveyor.

THE CHALLENGESSiemens’ warehouse operation was labor intensive. Workers manually received and stocked parts to supply the manufacturing facility located a quarter mile away. Kitting for production was done by hand with a paper pick system. Employees grabbed parts from stock or pallets, and loaded items into totes which were stacked and manually pushed across the floor to the proper destination. Finished individual totes could weigh as much as 80 pounds, uncommonly heavy for the average worker, not to mention the wear on totes from sliding on a concrete floor. With such an inefficient material handling system, production was at times starved for parts waiting for kits to be delivered.

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CASE STUDYSiemensFort Worth, TXIndustry: Manufacturing, PostalOverhead Conveyor System from Richards-Wilcox increased productivity and efficiency by 80%.• Reduced labor• Gained efficiences• Created a more ergonomic work

environment

600 South Lake Street, Aurora, IL 60506888-852-1020 • Fax: 630-897-6994Made In the U.S.A.

Load point showing the process to drop carriers and totes from Overhead Zig-Zag Conveyor to floor roller conveyor.

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600 South Lake Street, Aurora, IL 60506888-852-1020 • Fax: 630-897-6994

THE SOLUTIONRichards-Wilcox, along with other suppliers, analyzed the facility and designed a new system that greatly increased overall efficiency and inventory control. Siemens’ new system includes horizontal carousels and pick bays, a roller conveyor, racks, and a Richards-Wilcox Zig-Zag Monorail overhead conveyor which integrates with the other equipment.

An 1100-foot-long Richards-Wilcox overhead conveyor is now the primary delivery device for totes. It integrates seamlessly with the roller conveyor to stage and deposit totes at the horizontal carousel, and deliver finished kits to unload stations in diverted lanes. Exploiting unused overhead space, the Zig-Zag monorail makes several elevation changes to clear equipment and machinery and runs constant at 45 FPM. Special tote carriers with a 50 lb. capacity are spaced on 8 foot centers and at a constant 45 FPM.

Without stopping operation of the overhead conveyor, totes are loaded automatically onto the first available empty carrier at four load points and unloaded automatically based on the destination for the tote ID entered by Siemens. Unload stations automatically take the tote off the moving overhead conveyor carrier. For the carousel area, once the tote is clear of the carrier, a transfer will then move the tote to the accumulation roller conveyor leading to the work station. For the kitting diverts, a short section of powered roller moves the active tote on to a gravity-run out section of conveyor where the totes are accumulated. Pick up stations have a transfer to place the tote in front of an empty carrier on the overhead conveyor

and a stop to hold it in place as the carrier picks it up on the fly.

The completed tote is pushed onto the takeaway conveyor and transported to the overhead conveyor pick up station. The station will transfer the tote for pickup on the first empty carrier. The tote is then automatically transferred to the overhead conveyor system and delivered to the kitting areas where they are moved for transport to the manufacturing facility.

Siemens is very pleased with the efficiencies and improvements its new material handling system has yielded. Mike Sivoldi of Siemens states, “With the new system in place, we were able to save 12,480 labor hours annually and are seeing an 80% increase in productivity.”

The Zig-Zag Conveyor exploits unused overhead space with elevation changes to clear equipment and machinery.

Made In the U.S.A.