Conveyor Down in the 2nd Shift, On a Holiday Eve
When critical equipment fails at the worst time, what can you do?
This note came to us regarding one of our Service & Maintenance clients, a major retailer distribution operation in Dallas, TX, and the experience it had with our technician. With a power conveyor out during the evening, the night before a holiday, he needed fast assistance.
“Tuesday night (July 3) we experienced a significant conveyor failure on night shift. The belt on a straight conveyor section leading into a critical area had broken and wrapped around the drive unit. A huge mess on the night before a holiday.”
“I inspected the belt and saw that it wasn’t something we could easily fix on our own. It needed expert repairs. I called Cisco-Eagle and left message requesting a tech for emergency service.
“While the line was down, our people moved sections of flexible conveyor into place to bypass the dead power conveyor.
A call for help
“Cisco-Eagle returned my call, and I explained the problem,” the facility manager explained. “The dispatcher said he’d send a technician. I called back to ask for an ETA. The tech was on his way, but had to stop and pick up a belt splicer in case it was needed. He estimated 60-90 minute to get here.
“The technician arrived to begin repairs. He removed the cover, chain, sprocket and dust pan underneath. He unwound belt from drive roller, repositioned and re-pinned the belt. End splices were intact and did not require re-splicing or extensions. The belt was good did not need to be replaced. Less than an hour after he arrived, he had the conveyor running again.
“I want to recognize that your technician, Ben, did an outstanding job resolving the issue. I appreciate his skills and sense of urgency.
“Impact to production was just 30-45 minutes lost.”
Scott Stone is Cisco-Eagle's Vice President of Marketing with 35 years of experience in material handling, warehousing and industrial operations. His work is published in multiple industry journals an websites on a variety of warehousing topics. He writes about automation, warehousing, safety, manufacturing and other areas of concern for industrial operations and those who operate them.