How Industrial Manipulators Can Streamline Your Foundry
Do you know how many sectors can benefit from an industrial manipulator?
Dalmec’s solutions are engineered to make all warehouses safer and more productive in a broad variety of industries across the world, including:
• Electromechanics
• Automotive
• Textile
• Packaging
• Food and many more!
In this piece, we’re specifically highlighting the ways that industrial manipulators can streamline warehouses that specialize in the foundry industry.
Productivity
According to the American Foundry Society, the foundry sector is currently a $33.7 billion industry that directly provides nearly 200,000 jobs in the U.S. alone. Products and castings created in foundries continue to be in high demand in a variety of industries, including defense contracting, automotive, construction, trucking and many others.
To keep up with this ever-increasing rate of production, foundries need to adhere to rigorous standards of efficiency and safety. This means continuously reviewing their production process by asking questions like:
• What’s causing backups or delays in your warehouse?
• How accessible are your storage systems?
• Are your workflows helping or hurting your productivity?
As you’re addressing these concerns, you may discover that worn down machinery may be adding unnecessary obstacles for your employees. An employee’s productivity depends on the tools they’re given to work with, so if it’s been a while since the last upgrade, it may be time to invest in something new.
Industrial manipulators enable your employee operator to safely move any size product – from precision castings to moulds – thereby maximizing human resources and increasing productivity.
And it’s not just your workers’ productivity that will improve: adding industrial manipulators will make life easier for your employees and help boost their morale at work, while also freeing their time and energy for other tasks.
Versatility
When considering new machinery, many business owners are interested in products that can work in different capacities throughout their warehouse. This is exactly why industrial manipulators are in demand for many manufacturers – and why Dalmec is committed to creating flexible and adaptable products for the foundry industry.
Industrial manipulators can easily be customized and programmed for the specific needs of foundries, making them inherently dynamic tools.
For example, they can be used in the handling of rims, foundry pieces, moulds and precision castings with different dimensions and weights. Industrial manipulators assist the user and give them support to reduce the weight of their workload and to enable them to work safely, efficiently and precisely.
Not only are industrial manipulators flexible in the products they can handle, but there are also several styles to choose from, including pneumatic or mechanical gripping styles or column-mounted, overhead fixed or floor trolley mounted configurations.
When choosing an industrial manipulator, it’s important to find a vendor that will help choose the machine that’s right for your business. For example, Dalmec’s engineers will work with your team to design a custom solution that works best for you, your employees and your warehouse.
Safety
With its proximity to hazardous and toxic materials, the foundry field presents many possible hazards for warehouse workers.
According to the Association for Iron & Steel, the foundry industry continues to have higher injury rates than other manufacturing organizations – a trend that’s been present for more than a decade. The majority of these accidents were caused by employees coming into too close contact with the melted materials employees work with, including aluminum, iron and steel. Injuries and accidents include:
• Vision problems
• Metal splashes
• Lifting injuries
• Radiation from fumes
• Accidents involving furnaces
The AIST also believes that the type of tools your employees are given have a major impact on their safety, saying, “poorly planned or reviewed tools can lead to a variety of impromptu decisions on the part of workers that do not optimize safety.” This shows that workers who are given tools that are subpar quality are stuck with a dilemma: how can they continue to perform their job successfully while only using the deficient tools with which they’ve been provided?
It’s imperative that your employees aren’t forced to choose between productivity and their own safety. The best way to prevent this is to ensure they’re protected by high-quality, custom-made equipment designed specifically for your business.
Industrial manipulators, whether they’re off the shelf or custom-made for your business, help your employees stay safer – which, among other things, greatly reduces the chances that your warehouse comes to a screeching halt because of injury-related absences.
Foundry workers face unique safety hazards because they are regularly taking parts in and out of furnaces. To minimize this hazard, Dalmec offers manipulators that are equipped with heat protection both for the tool and for the operators.
Improving the safety of your foundry starts with ensuring that the machines and products your employees are using are safe and easy for them to maneuver, which is why industrial manipulators are becoming an increasingly popular choice for warehouse employers and managers.
Invest in Your Warehouse’s Success
As quickly as the foundry industry is growing, it’s important for the warehouses and the workers involved are able to operate effectively and safely with machinery that can help them do their job more safely and effectively than before.
Dalmec’s industrial manipulators can help give your employees the tools to do their job safely and accurately while improving your productivity (and your bottom line).
If you have any questions about an industrial manipulator for your business, contact us today to discuss your foundry’s options.