Sometimes more is better. Buying more adhesive at a time costs less cost per pound and provides less downtime. Sometimes less is better. Using less adhesive provides a better bond and reduces spillage and clean-up. As in the case of one of our customers who manufactures large machinery, they did both and now save thousands of dollars per year and improved their production output.
Let me explain. This company uses an anti-seize sealant in their assembly and a cold glue adhesive for product packaging. The anti-seize was kept in a 5-gallon pail and hand-scooped into small containers then hand-brushed onto bolts to reduce threading. The adhesive was pump fed through the top of a large tote and applied with a manual dispensing wand to seal packages.
Solution #1: For the anti-seize, they started saving money by buying the sealant in a 55-gallon drum, invested in a dispensing pump, and had an applicator engineered and installed for their specific assembly line needs. These integrations saved time from needing to continually refill containers and eliminated spillage caused by hand-brushing sealant on the assembly line. The total investment for these solutions cost under $2,000.
Solution #2: For the adhesive, they integrated their existing pump to an engineered bottom feed system. This eliminated significant adhesive waste and saved them from purchasing an extra 3 totes per year—that’s 750 gallons of glue. They also began using a custom engineered gun dispenser instead of the wand to regulate the amount of adhesive needed for their application. This significantly reduced spillage and clean-up. These modest improvements in their packaging operations cost under $300.
That’s one real example of how relatively small investments can yield very impressive results. What ways do you think your business may benefit from evaluating your adhesive usage and output?
Gary Hajek, Technical Sales Manager
216-374-6423