Don't just go from adequate to better. Smart manufacturers aim for exceptional.

When Equipment Manufacturers Improve Product Quality, Everyone is a Winner  

By Sandia Harrison, Director of Marketing, FPE Automation

Our story begins with an Illinois-based manufacturer of packaging equipment. 

Scott Peters, Territory Sales Manager for PHD Inc., described the application this way, "An 'up-packer' is located at the ginning press at a cotton gin and straps cotton."

A cotton up-packing strapping system binds
heavy bales.

For decades, the unpacking portion of their process utilized large-bore tie-rod cylinders to open and close the strapping equipment. It worked. "If it ain't broke...", some would say. 

Smart manufacturers know better. 

Partnering with FPE Automation to optimize their processes had really paid off for this company several times before. While it was an adequate solution, the engineers felt that cycle time and actuator life could be improved. 

They approached FPE Automation's Scott Massie, seeking a solution. FPE Automation assembled a team that included application engineers at PHD Inc. Initially, based on sizing and specifications alone, it looked like the ECV50 electric actuator would be a good fit. Overworked, busy R&D engineers, left to their own devices, might have moved forward with that solution. They would not have been wrong. All ECV cylinders are designed for high performance with superior speeds, thrusts, and travel lengths. It would have worked better than their legacy tie-rod cylinders. 

The engineers talked it over with Massie and Peters. "When the sizing was complete, the ECV50 passed but didn't quite give the extra life span they wanted, and additional tooling had to be made to mount into their equipment," Peters said. 

The engineers developed a new concept, a design that included a trunnion mounting built into the head and a custom-sized male rod thread with clevis using a Teknic motor and a Goizper brake. They called it the ECV80. 

FPE Automation's Scott Massie won the PHD Partner of the  Month
award for this innovative application. Here, he holds a much smaller
ECV electric cylinder than the one featured in this article.

Good vs. Great

This particular manufacturer could have settled for the status quo and continued to use the old tie-rod cylinders. Or, they could have done well by specifying the ECV50. The one they have on test has well over 500,000 cycles so far, not bad at all. 

Instead, they aimed higher. As the ECV80 enters the field-testing phase, we will keep you updated. So far, initial tests have been extraordinary.

Massie added, "The ECV50 is already giving them more life than they expected. The ECV80 is rated to an estimated 6 million cycles and is more of a drop-in solution, so it has the potential of being even better." 

So successful, in fact, that Massie received the PHD Inc. Partner of the Month award for this project. When the announcement was made of the win, John Ross, Vice President of North America Sales for PHD Inc., thanked him for his "diligence in leading the efforts to create the solution required for this demanding application."

Award-winning Solutions

FPE Automation's unique expertise regularly helps companies do even better. Ideas that are a step above the ordinary are just one aspect of what makes FPE Automation great. 

As for this manufacturer, in addition to being able to produce a better product, the next step is to upgrade another cotton machine, called the "down-packer," with this electric actuator.