Grain Systems Incorporated Group
Assumption, Illinois
Intern: Scott Achelpohl
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
The Grain Systems Incorporated (GSI) Group is an international company based
in Assumption, IL. The company manufactures grain bins, dryers and handling
systems, as well as feed systems for poultry, swine, and cattle. The
Assumption facility consists of a 900,000 square foot manufacturing and warehouse
center.
The intern student was tasked with evaluating options for reducing wood waste
and identifying alternatives to using personal fans to cool employees during
the summer months.
Results:
Wood waste is generated from incoming materials as well as the use of wooden
tubs and pallets for transporting materials. The intern made the following
recommendations to reduce wood waste:
- Establish a pallet return policy or utilize returnable totes with dealers
and GSI construction crews.
- Restrict incoming material shipped on wood pallets to standard pallet sizes
to allow for the pallets to be reused for shipping manufactured product out
of the facility.
- Consider materials other than wood for shipping materials, such as plastic
or steel pallets for internal use. Numerous wooden pallets used in
the plant are damaged due to poor handling and inappropriate load conditions. The
facility has hired a packaging engineer to address shipping-related matters.
There are over 390 personal fans of various makes and sizes used during the
summer months to cool employees. Over $50,000 per year is spent to run
the fans. Alternatives considered included:
- Replace personal fans with high volume, low-speed fans. These types
of fans are relatively expensive to purchase -- $7500 a fan. Due to
the number of obstructions throughout the plant, deploying the larger fans
would be cost prohibitive.
- Contracting with a vendor to conduct a plant-wide air flow study to identify
where the additional air intakes, exhausts and evaporative cooling unites
should be installed to improve air ventilation.
The final project involved the intern using a thermal imaging gun to detect
high temperatures in one facility hydraulic press units. The cause
of the problem was the shutdown of the lube system. If the press
had operated until bearing failure, the cost to repair the unit would have
amounted to over $10,000.
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