In many cases, as a platen or oven system starts to discolour and degrade under use – with dirt and process plastic and other materials – so the general reflectivity of the system will be compromised. This is itself should give us pause for thought. Like any machine – or any system at all -  in addition to the constant useage, some maintenance will be required. Some downtime will be needed.

It seems however, to be a part of human nature to gravitate to the simplest solution – the quickest fix – and to constantly postpone this requirement of downtime or servicing. Typically, most of us – in business and in manufacturing – live in a time-poor world. We more often reach for something to address the problem in that moment – and rarely schedule supposed non value added activities – until it’s too late.

In the case of heat work -  involving infrared heaters, infrared ovens, quartz heaters and ceramic heaters – the poor machine operator will often reach for the easiest solution – turning up the temperature to get the same level of manufacturing performance. Not only does this not address the fundamental problem it also gets the manufacturing into a vicious circle which can lead to burn out of electrical equipment and wiring; part malfunction and ultimately machine replacement.  Regular review and maintenance could pre-empt the bother and the increasing lack of process control, not to mention the extra costs involved.

Plant maintenance, of course, has become a manufacturing science and discipline all of its own in recent years – along with systems of quality; systems of production and delivery and so forth. But as long as some downtime is scheduled into the production heating process, there need not be any mystique about this value adding activity. Any manufacturer will find some point during the working week – a shift change; a tool change; a period of short production; when this work can be done. Schedule it in; display it publicly and visibly – and reap the benefit.

It is our experience at Ceramicx, for example, that a 30-40% improvement in operational efficiency of most packaging thermoforming systems can be achieved through this single and simple step of reviewing and renewing the infrared heating platen. The ideal control for this situation is to mount a thermocouple on the existing reflector system – keeping a temperature watch. When this starts to rise – taking more and more energy – the user should be alerted to take action.

Similar simple checks and balances can be made to work for a variety of oven systems.

All things being equal, heating systems can be made to perform in very predictable ways. In all truth, the factor that fluctuates and the programme of maintenance is management.

Keep your management on-track and your infrared heating will deliver all that you need.

Slainte

Frank

p.s. Top Tips for visiting the the K Show in Dusseldorf – make sure and call to our stand if visiting…