Problem
Handling an abundance of sand every year, the plant had little time or resources to spend on inefficiency. Due to the lack of proper belt cleaning, spillage and carryback were present throughout the entire plant, leading to immense material loss.
In addition to the plant wanting to improve its operation, MSHA mandated corrective action be taken towards containment and collection to cut the amount of dust in half.
Solution
The plant decided to have Martin Engineering come in and perform a comprehensive review of the existing conveyor system. The Martin® Walk the Belt™ service included inspection of the conveyor belts from head to tail pulley while looking for areas of improvement in regards to safety, productivity, and regulatory compliance.
After a detailed inspection, Martin recommended installing Martin® QC1+™ Cleaner XHD to reduce carryback and Martin® Trackers™ to keep the belts properly aligned, preventing material spillage and damage to the belt's edge.
Results
According to the plant, the Walk the Belt™ service utilizing tablets to generate on-site, immediate reports was worthwhile. The detailed report outlined the areas in the most need, allowing the plant to prioritize accordingly.
Walk the Belt™ also turned out to be an opportunity for Martin® service technicans to supervise installation and lend tips/tricks to personnel for maintaining efficient operations.
The plant is now considering a Martin® Ongoing Maintenance program to maintain productivity and compliance with MSHA standards along with containment and collection upgrades.
