Keywords
Citation
(2004), "Savings on wash fluid costs, downtime and labour", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 56 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2004.01856aab.004
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Savings on wash fluid costs, downtime and labour
Savings on wash fluid costs, downtime and labour
Keywords: Fluids, Cleaning, Costs
As a result of changing to Master Chemical's TRIM Clean products, a leading UK-based, tier two automotive supplier has made substantial savings on overheads. It has doubled the life of the fluid in its ultrasonic washers, halved associated downtime and completely eliminated labour costs for clean outs. Annual savings are assessed at 98 labour hours and 48 h of downtime. This is in addition to the substantial saving of around 4,500 per annum on the cost of the fluids themselves, and all this has been achieved without any compromise on cleaning quality (Plate 3).
Plate 3
Savings on wash fluid costs, downtime and labour owing to Master Chemical
Europe
The opportunity to review its choice of cleaning fluids came as a result of the company relocating its ultrasonic washers. The prime objective of the review was to establish if alternative fluids could equal or better the cleaning performance and cost of those from the northern supplier. User and environmental friendliness of the products and reliability of supply were emphasised.
TRIM CCT, 2029 and 2023 were identified as suitable candidates for the job and they were put to the test in an independent 38l ultrasonic wash tank. Components were then benchmarked with those washed by the existing wash chemicals. Favourable results then led to the TRIM fluids being tried in the plant itself.
Some fine-tuning of the chemical strength and bath temperature was required for TRIM CCT but this was attributed to differences in the ultrasonics and its ability to basket dunk. Otherwise the TRIM products worked equally well in the plant and the cleaning results were adjudged to be comparable to the existing products.
The overriding achievement however was the cost savings. The old regime required 52 tank fills per annum. This was reduced to just 26 with the TRIM Cleaning Products, showing a cost saving per fill of around £30.
For further information visit the web site: www.MasterChemical.com