CASE STUDY – REPLACING FLAME TREATERS

Although the headline sounds like Lectro Engineering came to the rescue of a fire at a plant that is not the case. Lectro did replace flame treaters that were previously on site at a manufacturer that used flame to treat plastic prior to painting. In essence Lectro did put out the flame in that plant.

Background

Flame has been used for many years to treat plastics and there are a number of different methods used in treating plastic parts with flame. One common denominator with all flame treating methods, however, is that when the flame comes in contact with the plastic for too long, damage can occur that destroys the parts.

This was the challenge our client faced.  The parts they were treating had areas that were very thin. When the flame treated these areas, they melted, changed shape or disappeared altogether – leaving the product defective.

By replacing their flame treaters with LectroTreat machines they not only solved their quality problem, but they enjoyed other benefits as well.

Unexpected Cost Savings

As the project progressed it was brought to the manufacturer’s attention that by eliminating flame treating in their plant they could save money in a number of areas.

• First, the cost of operating a LectroTreat is much less than operating a flame treater.
• The labor cost of monitoring flame treating is also much higher as the LectroTreat requires no monitoring of the line on a regular basis.
• Eliminating flames in the plant reduced insurance costs as the potential for a workman’s comp claim with flame is reduced. 
• The LectroTreat yielded a significant reduction in overhead costs including reduced utility bills.

Better Consistency

Flame is a very inconsistent method of treating plastic products as there are no guarantees that flame will treat 100% of the part. That is not the case with the Lectro treat.

• After the customer moved from flame to the LectroTreat they could not believe the reduction in the scrap rate.
• They re-allocated a plant employee who was monitoring the line to a more productive position in the factory.

Just having an open flames removed from the plant has been a positive for everyone who had to be around it. Putting the flame out was the right move!