Tire Manufacturing and Casters

Cisco-Eagle helped a tire plant in Oklahoma optimize their caster supply to run a smoother operation

The situation:

The company required a more active and expert provider of casters for its Oklahoma plant.

The solution:

After surveying plant personnel, Cisco-Eagle recommended changes in wheel types for the application.

Benefits:

1. Reduced average wait for casters from 2 weeks to 4 days. Cisco-Eagle inventories and ability to quickly acquire needed casters was key. Frequent communication was vital to this achievement.
2. Replaced debris-generating phenolic wheels with hard poly wheels.
3. Reduced back injuries associated with moving carts with defective wheels. The start-up force (the energy it takes to initially move a wheeled product) has been reduced. Injuries occur due to high start-up force requirements and ease of rollability.
4. Replaced labor-intensive roller bearings with maintenance-free ball bearings. Ball bearings do not require the greasing and attention that roller bearings do.
5. Upgraded from 2 ball bearings per wheel to 4 ball bearings per wheel.
6. Changed plant from kingpin-style rigs to kingpinless rigs. Kingpinless casters are designed for towing and heavy-pushing applications. They have reduced the replacement rate.
7. Changed one application from painted rig to type II zinc. This eliminates the potential for rust, which can become a safety hazard. This also extends the life of the casters.

Cisco-Eagle provides a Texas tire plant with wheels that go the distance

The situation:

Urethane wheels were de-bonding from the iron core.

The solution:

Cisco-Eagle specified solid urethane wheels. These wheels have eliminated the de-bonding problem, saving the company substantial dollars in replacement costs and production slowdown.

Benefits:

1. Reduced maintenance time and costs. Sealed precision bearings eliminate a bearing that needs to be greased. A roller bearing in this wheel would eventually run out of grease and stop spinning. The hardened out side split sleeve would start spinning and act like a drill bit and bore a hole through the caster leg. pan.
2. Increased long-term rollability. Long before the bearing situation might ruin the caster, the wheel and cart would become harder to push. This reduces efficiency in the plant and causes frustration for the workers.
3. These wheels weigh less. The maintenance man likes this solution because the urethane wheels weigh less than the Iron cored wheels. This is critical for installation. When a maintenance worker mounts the casters on the carts, he must hold the caster up with one hand and put the bolts in with the other. A heavier caster makes this much more difficult.
4. Start-up force is greatly reduced. Using 70 D polyurethane makes the wheel roll easier and reduces the start up force. This allows the employee to do more useful work like building more tires.
5. Casters will last much longer than the old ones. Using the Kingpinless swivel, the caster will swivel easier and the will take more punishment than a conventional kingpin caster.
6. Towing applications: The rigs Cisco-Eagle provides are higher capacity and are specially designed for towing.