#Industry News
User Succes Story: Moving Away from Batch Production.
Tacmina’s Smoothflow Pump in-line customization method.
Chemical Manufacturer Company D
Product Development Department
In recent years, business reorganization has been booming in the chemical industry, such as new entries, mergers, and withdrawals. Company D, a specialized chemical manufacturer, was aiming to develop a system that can handle many different varieties of small-scale production in newly entered fields.
Problems:
・Even though we a new field, batch production was limiting us.
Company D decided to enter a new field in response to a decrease in sales in their existing field. Then, at the request of a parts supplier which was a new customer, we began to produce a basic material that mixes a functional resin and a curing agent that would be used in product development. Mr. I, who was in charge of the production, decided to produce the basic material using batch production while utilizing the existing equipment.
“However, when we started production, we found that the total yield was very poor with batch mixing. In addition, batch mixing is very difficult to control and handle a wide variety of small-scale productions. Furthermore, this two-component mixture is highly viscous, so if it is mixed with an agitator, I learned that air gets mixed into the solution and we have to include a separate degassing process in the system,” Mr. I explained.
・Changing to in-line production in order to cope with changes to the liquid characteristics.
“In addition, we were able to identify a problem that the liquid’s properties change during transfer and mixing. In particular, after mixing the solutions, the product deteriorates after a little bit of time and creates a problem that we are only able to produce very small quantities of the product. This was a fatal problem that could threaten delivery.” Mr. I decided to investigate about possible improvements to this transfer and mixing problem as soon as possible, including in-line production.
Around the same time, a request from the parts manufacturer came to double the total production capacity within half a year. However, it would have been impossibly to increase the production volume with their current setup, and Mr. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Points of Issue:
・Yield is poor in batch-type mixing and cannot be used for multi-product small lot production.
・When liquid is mixed with an agitator, air is pulled into the solution and a degassing process is required.
・The quality of the final liquid cannot be maintained due to changes in the liquid’s properties when the liquids are transferred or mixed.
Solutions:
・A passion to find what is most useful for customers.
Mr. I heard that pumps are often used to mix liquids in the food and beverage industry, so he decided to visit the FOOMA Japan exhibition to look for some hints. “At that time, I discovered a Smoothflow Pump which was being displayed at Tacmina’s booth. According to the person in charge there, this pump is a non-pulsating diaphragm type pump, and there are no rotating or sliding parts in the wetted parts, so that the liquid can be transferred gently and easily. In addition, Tacmina was able to completely customize the pump equipment and in-line processes according to the customer’s requirements based on experience and knowledge cultivated over many years. I thought, ‘This is it!’ And I told the person in charge about the problems I was having. I learned that I would be able to not only have the transfer part in-line, but I could stop batch mixing in a tank and mix the entire process in-line as well. The Tacmina representative even told me that if I gave him a bit of time he would make a complete proposal based on the problems I was facing. This was exactly the answer that I was looking for,” explained Mr. I.
・Complete in-line process equipment that solved the problems Company D had.
Mr. I continued, “After a short while, the Tacmina representative presented a complete system that used a low-shear high-performance pumps and a static mixer. At first, I was only considering in-lining the transfer part of the process, but Tacmina’s proposal seemed to solve all of my company’s problems with a complete in-line system.”
As a result, Company D decided to implement this system. “The degassing process, which I was most concerned about, was no longer necessary due to the in-line mixing that prevented outside air from entering the solutions. This reduced the overall mixing time by 70% and improved productivity. Not only that, the yield was drastically improved. Thanks to the continuous stable production, we were able to maintain the improved quality. This further improved our reputation with the parts manufacturer, and we were able to proceed with their next order for larger quantities. This Smoothflow system was truly a lifesaver that allowed us to meet our customer’s needs,” Mr. I concluded.
Solution Points:
・Tacmina proposed to switch from batch to in-line mixing to improve yield and support for high-mix, small-lot production.
・In-lining eliminated the need for a degassing process.
・All of the problems that affected the properties of the liquids were eliminated and total quality was improved.
