CASE STUDY No. 9708
KEY WORDS METAL SCRAP, REDUCTION
Reliance Electric Industrial Company
2855 Michigan Road
Madison, IN 47250
Contact: Delbert Liter, Plant Engineer. Tel: 812-273-1664. Fax: 812-273-6874.
Summary
Reduction of metal scrap and other waste prevention initiatives enable an electric
motor manufacturer to reduce disposal by 300 tons per year and realize savings of
$150,000.
Action
Reliance Electric Industrial Company makes small electric motors. To address waste
reduction issues, the company created REACT--Reliance Environmental Awareness Conservation
Team. Here's how the team has responded concerning specific metals:
- Copper. Large amounts of scrap copper wire are generated in the process of
manufacturing electric motors. This leftover wire has always been recovered and sold in
the scrap markets. It is far more beneficial, however, to reduce the scrap rate. The REACT
team found that by: specifying delivery of wire on larger spools, reducing
wire winding machine malfunctions, and developing a more accurate method of
determining when spools were running low on wire, wire purchases could be reduced
about 15,000 pounds a year, yielding a 20% reduction in materials costs for this one item.
- Aluminum. Excess and waste aluminum from the rotor manufacturing process was
being sold as high-grade scrap. The team found it was possible both to increase the scrap
recovery rate through procedural changes and re-smelt it in ingot form for direct return
to the plant's manufacturing line. This change resulted in a $27,000 reduction in raw
materials costs.
- Steel. Excessive scrap losses were observed during the welding of motor
frames. The team found the cause was primarily uneven application of heat during welding.
A $15,000 modification to the welding machine has reduced the waste steel rate by 15% and
increased productivity.
Additional reductions in waste were achieved by:
- Resharpening instead of scrapping carbide tooling inserts, prolonging their life;
- Installing new paint guns in the paint booth, reducing touch-up and paint
consumption;
- Replacing metal nameplates with laser-applied data--burned into the motor housing
after painting;
- Return of plastic buckets and wire spools to vendors for reuse,
- saving disposal expense for 40 tons of material;
- Correcting an overflow leak, reducing process water demand by 50%.
Payback
Although the company has not calculated its return on investment, most of the
changes required no capital, and payback time should be considered minimal. This is
typical of industrial programs in which small quality improvements are made continuously.
IIR
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