Englert Maintenance Team Orchestrates Installation Of New 75-Ton MicroGuard Press
Maintenance Department Picks Things Up And Puts Them Down...Fast!
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Englert’s new Facilities and Engineering Manager, David Plum, left, stands with Mike Fox, Englert stamping department supervisor, in front of the MicroGuard press.
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Perth Amboy, NJ – How do you move two 60 and 75-ton presses used to make Englert MicroGuard from one end of the manufacturing floor to the other at Perth Amboy?
Very carefully, reports Englert’s new Facilities and Engineering Manager, David Plum. Plum recently oversaw the placement of the new 75-ton press—acquired in Michigan—to handle back-up production for another press that produces the highly popular MicroGuard gutter screen.
Moving the two tall units around the Perth Amboy manufacturing floor, without damaging overhead piping and lighting, required careful planning and some pretty sophisticated maneuvering of a rotating forklift. But Plum’s team, with the help of employees from Mike Fox’s stamping department, got it done.
The new press occupies the space where the older screen press had been located, and the older press was moved into the space of an old spike-making machine no longer in use. The ceiling height along the path where the old press was being moved was 111” tall—exactly the same height as the old press, notes Plum. His team had to separate the heavy machine from its legs, move it via forklift to its new location, and then re-place it atop its legs. The process took nearly five hours without once putting a dent in the stamping department production schedule.
The 75-ton press was shipped from Michigan to Connecticut. When it arrived in New Jersey, Plum’s maintenance team installed vibration isolators on the press, a process designed to reduce about 60% of the machine vibration that comes with stamping out screens. Reducing vibration is good for noise reduction and extends the life of the machine as well.
“The new press also has the ability to communicate data to other machines and at some point we shall install monitoring equipment that will give us automated production and downtime information, eliminating any possibility of human error,” adds the facilities and engineering manager.
About Englert Inc.
Since 1966, Englert Inc. has been the gold standard for commercial and residential metal roofing and gutter systems, and on-site roll-forming machines. To learn more about the company’s extensive product lineup, including roof systems add-ons such as solar, rainwater reclamation and solar hot water heating, visit www.englertinc.com.