ROVIC, a leading South African manufacturer of agricultural machinery, is to modify shopfloor workflow to cut component assembly times, improve staff safety and increase the rate of production.
The new production sequencing will be applied to the company’s large and small grain planter range, and is an outcome of a lifting equipment tender submitted as a joint project by three South African companies working in close cooperation: BB Cranes (which took the order), iTek Drives and Condra.
BB Cranes’ contract comprises three double-girder electric overhead travelling cranes to be installed in the new Rovic factory under construction in Blackheath, Cape Town.
Key to the improved workflow will be a simplified and very precise positioning of grain-planter components. Twin overhead BB cranes fitted with multiple hoists will service the production line to allow simultaneous assembly of various planters without having to move the cranes.
Precise hoist load positioning will be achieved by Invertek Optidrive variable-speed drives supplied by iTek Drives.
The old assembly sequence made use of forklifts to move planter components to a number of fixed gantries on an as-and-when-required basis. Gantry staff positioned and fastened them in a time-consuming process that included fitting up to 53 identical planting units one by one to each machine.
In the new assembly sequence, two identical double-girder overhead cranes spanning the entire 28-metre width of the factory floor will service multiple planters arranged in a row, allowing simultaneous assembly of an increased number of machines, and removing from the shop floor the obstruction to movement represented by the fixed gantries.
Each of the twin overhead cranes will feature two 3,2-ton crab-mounted units for the chassis components, and four underslung 1-ton hoists fitted two to each girder for the planting units. All six hoists on each crane will work simultaneously across the row being serviced.
The third overhead crane, the 20-tonner, will be used to move completed planters out of the factory for shipping.
When Rovic commissioned construction of a second larger factory, the approach was unusual: management communicated a willingness to reconsider and radically modify current workflow and assembly sequences, leaving it up to the companies submitting tenders to optimise their proposed solutions.
BB Cranes steered the compilation of the proposal and secured the order, with Condra supplying design office support and cooperating closely with iTek Drives and BB Cranes throughout the design phase.
