Who knows what a paternoster lift is? Anyone…?
It is a passenger elevator, consisting of a chain of
open compartments that moves slowly in a loop up and down inside a
building. It runs continuously without stopping,
and people can hop on or off at any floor they like.
Paternosters were popular throughout the first half of
the 20th century but fell out of favor afterward. The most important
reason is they were rather slow because people needed enough time to step on or
off.
In the 21st century, we use this very same
principle in our vertical conveyor. This conveyor is a chain-driven lift that
operates continuously in a vertical loop. A forked lift platform allows the
product to be ‘scooped’ up from the loading position and deposited on the
unloading position.
Just like the paternoster that was used for passengers
a century ago, we can attach many platforms to the chain. That’s why we can
lift many products at the same time, whereas a traditional product elevator can
lift just one product at a time.
Total cost of ownership
In these days, you need more than just a good idea to be
in front in the material handling industry. You also have to think about total
cost of ownership because that’s one of the most important aspects for most
customers.
The following types of costs are important to
calculating a total cost of ownership:
·
Purchasing costs
·
Implementation costs
·
Energy costs
·
Service and
maintenance costs
At Qimarox, we have succeeded in lowering these costs
as much as possible during many years of continuous product development. A side
effect is that our machine is very sustainable. How did we do that? Here are the
six steps we took, and hopefully they’ll help you design your products to be more
affordable or let you know what to look for when purchasing a new technology.
1. Less parts
When you first start building a machine, you don’t
think of the number or the price of the parts you are using. You just want to
make the machine do what it is meant for, regardless of what it takes. When the
machine has been finished and is working the way you want, it is time to look
once again at every little detail. For instance, can we make this machine as
simple as possible? Do we really need every part that is used, or can we do
without it? In many cases, it turned out there were better ways to get the same
results, and obviously, you don’t have to pay for parts you don’t use.
Buyer’s Point: When comparing technologies, it can be
beneficial to find the one that uses fewer parts and still gets the job done
effectively. As long as the technology
meets all of your needs, you will save money over time.
2. Standardization of parts
At
first, we used many different nuts and bolts in our machine. When we took a closer look at this, it turned out we didn’t need all
these different fasteners. A couple of different sizes were enough. The same goes
for gears, motors, and other parts. Using fewer types of parts means we can buy
them in greater amounts. Thus, the price of these parts goes down and our inventory
is reduced. Lastly but certainly not least, fewer types of parts makes it a lot
easier for service engineers.
Buyer’s Point: Not only does part standardization make
manufacturing the equipment more cost effective, but it also makes the
maintenance of the equipment cheaper. You won’t have to keep as many
replacement parts on hand, and the parts you do have can be used for various
fixes.
3. Commonly available parts
It needs no explanation that custom-made parts are
expensive. That is why we use parts that are commonly available. Of course
these parts are cheaper, but it is also easier to get them when they have to be
replaced. A service engineer doesn’t need to call our office in The Netherlands
when a machine is broken down, but can easily buy these parts at a local
distributor of technical equipment.
Buyer’s Point: This might be common sense, but avoid
equipment with parts that you can’t easily find or will cost you large amounts
of money to replace.
4. Modular design
A machine like our vertical conveyor is always a part
of a bigger system like a packaging line or an automated order picking system.
That means we sometimes have to adapt the machine in order to fit it in the
bigger system, but the last thing we want to do is change the design of the entire
machine every time. This is why our machine has a modular design. If we do have
to change a part of the machine, we simply replace the old module with the new
module and nothing else needs changing.
Buyer’s Point: Try not to purchase equipment that you
can’t adapt to your overall system, and don’t design your entire system around
one piece of technology. If you ever
want to update or improve your overall material handling system, you’ll have to
replace the equipment that is not modular and capable of being updated itself.
5. Dust and moisture proof
One of the things that make our machine special is
that the chain gear is fixed on just one side of the conveyor, making it
possible to build a solid case around it. This case prevents the products on
the conveyor from getting dirty from the grease that is in the chain gear. When
a chain snaps, the products won’t be damaged, and more importantly, it also
prevents the chain gear from coming into contact with dust and moisture that
could lead to failure.
Buyer’s Point: Look for equipment that is well-built
and capable of lasting inside facilities that contain dirt, dust, moisture, and
grime. If there are a lot of exposed parts,
there’s a good chance you’ll be making many repairs due to wear and tear.
6. Less energy
Using the principle of the paternoster lift, the same number
of carriers goes up as goes down. In other words, these carriers balance each
other. We don’t need energy for lifting these carriers, just for lifting the
products. That makes our vertical conveyor very energy efficient and
sustainable.
Buyer’s Point: With an influx of green products
entering the market, there really isn’t a reason to not purchase more energy
efficient equipment. It saves you money,
decreasing your payback period on the equipment as well.
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