Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Some maintenance required

As with reading the instruction manual, scheduled maintenance is often overlooked.  We get notifications from our car dealers that things are due.  And, to be honest, who hasn't pushed that oil change a little farther out than recommended.   However, all machinery needs to be properly maintained for optimal and profitable production.  Also, keeping with the car analogy, the ones with crank windows and no AC have fewer systems that need maintaining, right.  So the higher level the machine, the more diligence is required.

Screen print machine maintenance

As an example of basic machinery, like the crank window on a car, manual screen printing presses only need to be clean.   Clean machines mean clean shirts for he end customer.  The use of spray adhesive is the biggest factor in a screen print shop.  The spray sticks to the machines, and the lint from the garments stick to the spray.  Dirt, dust and ink stick to the mess as well.  Some shops think this is "charming", like a cotton candy coating.  But, no, it's not.  The best solution, long term is to switch to platen glue that is spread on.  It lasts longer on press and it doesn't travel and stick anywhere it is not supposed to.

The spray adhesive also affects conveyor ovens.  The spray can mist into the drive system and the control panels.  Dirt on the drive train and the belt can easily be transferred to the final garments.  Spray adhesive and lint will stick to the fans of the control panel and reduce or eliminate air flow to the electrical components causing them to overheat and fail.  As the complexity of electronic components increases, the chance of overheat is higher.  This can cause drive train system failure, heat control system failure and complete machine shut down.  So, again, get rid of the spray and clean the machine.  Easy solutions to potentially big problems.

Automatic printers are higher level machines and require more maintenance.  The Brown ElectraPrint has a suggested maintenance that is listed in it's manual.  These items begin, like all others, with cleaning filters and chains.  The biggest part of this machine is the grease.  There are grease locations in each head and in the base. For air driven machines, the maintenance increases due to the air compressor equipment and the cylinders.  Check your manual for the full list and you will probably see "cleaning" at the top.

DTG auxiliary machine maintenance

BrownDigital, with the development of the Synergy and FireFly systems, is heavily involved in the DTG production market.  While this segment of the industry has different challenges, the solutions are often the same.  Additionally, these machines are higher level and required more scheduled maintenance items with more diligence.  

The FireFly is similar to conventional curing systems.  Drive train systems, fans and motors need to be kept clean.  Filter systems and belts for the exhaust scrubbers do have a maintenance schedule, just like the filters on your car.  And if these are not followed, those will fail.  These ovens cure with quartz style heating, so stocking spare bulbs in-house is a good plan to reduce down time.  These also use thermal imaging cameras and touch screen displays.  Higher level parts need additional monitoring for continued reliable production.

For pretreat systems, the complication increases.  There are a lot of moving parts, motors and filters.  Pretreat fluid is sticky and everything it touches needs to be flushed with water or replaced on a regular basis.  There are nozzles, pumps, valves and hosing that water flush cycles need to be run.  There are filter systems for the fluid and for air flow that need regular changing or cleaning.  There is a belting system that needs cleaning due to overspray.  None of this maintenance is difficult, but it is necessary and, in the case of the Synergy, can be preprogrammed to automatically run.  Also, task reminders can be set for any other maintenance item needed.

Final notes

Maintenance is often a low level priority for small businesses.  Run everything until there is an issue and then scramble until things are repaired.  For some items, that is okay.  However, like a restaurant that needs to wash everything every day, a production facility needs to be cleaned.  

Today a long standing customer stopped in for a part for a machine from the late 1980s.  Yes, the 1980s.  It was spotless.  And, since we build a similar unit today, he still runs this one.  We did laugh that he was not a profit center for us, since he never needs to buy anything but he pointed out that this is what makes his business profitable.  Isn't that what you are in this for?