Powder and Bulk Weblog

Penn Crusher Brings Back the Iconic Buster, Offers Reward for Clues to his Origin

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:50:01 -0500

After a long absence, Pennsylvania Crusher has brought back the iconic Rock Buster that served as a corporate symbol in the company's early years.

The muscular symbol takes on new prominence as part of an updated Pennsylvania Crusher logo that has begun appearing on everything from the company's letterhead and business cards to the labels on its crushers and feeders.

The name "Buster" is a fairly recent addition to the burley rock crusher's long history.

Several years ago, Penn Crusher President Don Melchiorre rediscovered him on a 1921 metal nameplate that had been part of an early hammermill machine label. Don christened him "Buster" and had the nameplate hung in a prominent place at the company's main office in Broomall, PA.

The name stuck, and Buster got his first modern-day starring role at the top of Penn Crusher's 2005 calendar.

The calendar celebrated the company's milestone of 100 years in business, and Buster served as the perfect symbol of Penn Crusher's long history of leadership in the development and manufacture of hammermills and other crushing equipment.

When Penn Crusher V.P. of Sales Lee Doyer recently asked Marketing Communications Manager Theresa Antell to propose some options for a new logo design for the company, "Buster" was the unanimous choice.

Buster replaces a rather abstract "PC" symbol that Lee explains was meant to represent the outline of a reversible crusher. "Most people didn't get it," Lee says, "and we're all glad to see Buster in its place. Everyone loves Buster."

The new logo is modeled after the same 1921 nameplate that appeared on the anniversary calendar.

To the best of anyone's recollection, Buster seems to have appeared sometime between 1910 and 1920. Pennsylvania Crusher has been trying to learn more about Buster's story.

New Logo Prompts Search for Buster's History and Prize for Best Stories

The new Penn Crusher logo features the rock crushing Buster

If you have any information that you think might add to the Buster legend, go to the Buster Story Entry Form. Tell your Buster story and enter to win a one-gigabyte USB memory stick pre-loaded with the Pennsylvania Crusher Handbook of Crushing.

Perhaps you have a vintage crusher at your facility with an early Buster image on the nameplate. Your Buster story may be factual or fanciful. In addition to winning a memory stick, the best entries will be included in a future story here on this blog and on the Penn Crusher website. To be a part of the Buster history project, enter your story now.

Don Dunnington
Blog Moderator

Kathy Hunter Retires

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:12:20 -0500

The K-Tron Process Group’s Director of Global Marketing Kathy Hunter has retired following 20 years with the company. In her role as a member of the Powder Show (now PTXi) advisory group, Kathy came to be known and admired widely by her peers in the industry. You can see Joe Taylor’s online video interview with Kathy at this year’s PTXi show.

She was also active in the Process Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) and was a familiar figure to those attending shows and K-Tron sponsored feeding and pneumatic conveying technology seminars serving the food, pharmaceutical, plastics, chemical and other process industries.

At her retirement luncheon, K-Tron Sales and Marketing V.P. Robert Barnett (see photo) recounted Kathy’s career at K-Tron and her many accomplishments. He recalled how she came to K-Tron from Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) where she was director of the Management Institute.

Kathy said her transition from academia to industrial marketing seemed like a steep climb when she arrived. At the time K-Tron was introducing the first digital feeder controls, and Kathy said it took some concentrated effort to get comfortable with the constantly evolving feeder technology. During her career at K-Tron she helped launch innovative products such as modular volumetric and gravimetric feeders, the Smart Force Transducer, the Smart Weigh Belt Feeder, and the Bulk Solids Pump (BSP). She played a key role in transitioning the K-Tron Feeder Group into the K-Tron Process Group with the acquisition of Premier Pneumatics in 2006.

Although she is retiring, Kathy says she plans to remain active in the process equipment arena. After she takes some time off to visit with her son’s and daughter’s families and especially “spend more time with the grandchildren,” she says she will be doing some consulting. So while her garden in Cherry Hill, NJ may get a little more attention this summer, Kathy fully expects to keep on tending to the abundant garden of friends and interests she has developed over 20 years in the process equipment industry.

Don Dunnington
Moderator

Live Action : Trade Show News as you've never seen before

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:25:17 -0500

Powder and Bulk Dot Com publisher Joe Taylor broke new ground for the industrial equipment industry with his “Live Video Interviews” from PTX South in Charlotte, NC. Over two days, Taylor and his daughter Diana produced and posted 27 video interviews with exhibitors demonstrating their newest equipment at show.

The handheld camerawork by Diana Taylor has an authentic indie film feel that is perfectly in tune with the growing online video medium. I found the best in-booth interviews involved a demonstration of some new piece of equipment. Even if you were at the show, it’s worth your time to take a look at these unrehearsed live demos, with their up-close views and the opportunity to replay the action as many times as you want.

The following are a brief samples of some of the videos Joe Taylor said he found of interest:

In an interview at the 3Sigma booth, Scott Dahlgren demonstrates 3Sigma’s GeoMate™ Dry Material Feeder. Dahlgren describes how the feeder has been optimized for batching applications with its “Pulseless” feed and “Instant Off” capabilities.

On a visit to the Young Industries booth, Joe Taylor interviews James Mothersbaugh , who demonstrates a cohesive powder feeder that uses air pressure. Young Industries provides solutions in pneumatic conveying, mixing, blending, size reduction, and air pollution control.

In his interview with Jack Paddock of Atlantic Coast Crushers (see lead photo), we learn that the company posts videos of their customer material tests on a private page on Yahoo! Taylor told me you can do the same on Powder and Bulk Dot Com. When you upload a video to this site, the default is for the video to be “public.” During your video upload, simply select the “private” button. You can then email the video page address to those with whom you want to share your private video.

Joe Taylor says Keith Simpson of Spiroflow was a bit reluctant to do a video, but Taylor thinks it turned out to be one of the best videos. Even Simpson had to admit it was a success. In an email to Taylor, Simpson wrote that he was surprised to find that he “wasn’t as frightening to watch” as he thought it would be.

You can find all 27 videos in the "Trade Shows and Events" channel in the Powder and Bulk Dot Com Video Center

Don Dunnington
Moderator

Back Peddling leaves no Carbon Footprint.

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:09:59 -0500

If back peddling is good for the environment then the Federal Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts Peter Garrett over the second weekend in March [when Victorians were enjoying high temperatures and a long weekend] contributed negatively to Australia’s carbon emissions.

Floated as the price to be paid to accede with Garrett’s demand that plastic shopping bags be phased out by the end of the year a dollar a bag was the “top bid” in the popular press. [Labor policy is to phase out plastic shopping bags by ‘economic means”.]Garrett quickly came out with denials which are available for all to read and judge the “pollie-speak”.

All of this was happening when Robin Tuckerman FAIP principal of RT Consulting was girding up his loins to present the third in a series of packaging education seminars designed by Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] and presented on behalf of Australian Industry Group [AIG] at the behest of the Victorian Government to deliver the Industry Skills Advisers ’initiative which aims to develop skills within the packaging industry

Robin’s presentation was entitled Demystifying the National Packaging Covenant a subject in which he is well qualified. Robin is particularly interested in environmental and sustainability issues and has been involved in developing and implementing successful Action Plans and Reports since the original Covenant was introduced in July 1999.

He is also very familiar with the new strengthened Covenant and has assisted a number of organisations in establishing base line data, writing Reports and Action Plans, and providing in house training. All have passed the assessment requirements of the National Packaging Covenant [NPC] Secretariat with one winning the Action Challenge Award at the inaugural Packaging Evolution Awards in 2006.

The National Packaging Covenant is the means by which Australian Industry is pursuing Government backed self-regulation to achieve targets rather than legislation introduced in other parliaments. European Union [EU] countries have targets set under EU directive 94/62 EC dealing with waste minimisation and recycling that are backed by legislation.

In July 2005, the Environmental Protection & Heritage Council (EPHC) agreed to the proposal for a strengthened National Packaging Covenant, for a term of five years. The strengthened Covenant incorporates a number of changes designed to introduce more quantifiable performance measures and more rigorous compliance processes.

Fourteen companies were represented and covered the spectrum of industry sectors obligated to sign onto NPC Mark II. As participants explained their presence it became obvious that amalgamation of companies, which continues unabated, has a marked effect on NPC as executives are replaced. Two examples were provided where NPC involvement was cancelled by executive decision without reference down the line.

One CEO is reported as saying “I just bin letters from people I don’t know”. Several are now addressing the amalgamation of many companies that were already signatories. Twenty-eight amalgamations took the prize for the day!

But it is not all doom and gloom as many positive reasons for attendance went straight to the heart of NPC. The desire to commence with the correct packaging rather than try to offset at the end of use; and a mission to have all packaging to be recyclable were quite positive.

Reasons advanced why companies join, [over 650 have] include: -

• Broader environmental commitment and responsibility
• Save wasted materials, energy, resources, time and money
• Comply with increasing demand for eco-friendly packaging
• Avoid potential penalties from state governments under NEPM
• Be part of a successful voluntary approach that will avoid legislation and much more costly fees
• Help build a more sustainable company
• Save waste packaging going to landfill
• Become a ‘good corporate citizen”

Robin’s experience is that companies that signed onto NPC declared improved triple bottom-line business results and in all instances the benefits outweigh the costs. A number of examples were detailed and are often posted on signatories’ or the NPC web site.

If your company supplies raw materials to packaging manufacturers or is a packaging manufacturer then you should be a signatory to NPC. If you purchase packaging that becomes part of the supply chain or produce packaging waste then membership is also recommended.

The half day discussion session covered the salient points of NPC including costs and benefits, the key performance indicators used and the environmental impact of the scheme. This included a summary of the recycling targets set under the revised document - NPC Mark II. Basically industry has to increase the recycling rate from 48% to 65% without increasing landfill above 2003 levels. Non “recyclable packaging” has also been listed with 25% of it being mandated to be reused.

Plastics of all types have to improve the recycled rate by 10 or 15% over the life of NPC Mark II. The debate about plastic shopping bags will likely continue for sometime. Shopping bags are subject to Schedule 7 to the Australian Retailers Association Code of Practice for the Management of Plastic Bags which is part of the NPC but has totally different targets to the NPC.

Since NPC Mark II was signed off by EPHC members the Federal Government has changed and alterations have been made in all state and territory cabinets. At the next review no minister that signed off in 2005 will be at the table. If NPC Mark II will get a tick of approval or thumbs down remains to be seen.

Australia is now a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol which details actions needed for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions! NPC Mark II has no mention of the reduction of green house emissions although there are covert implications

AIG is also involved in another initiative to improve skills within the packaging industry. In association with RMIT University and Design Victoria [www.designvic.com ] AIG is promoting a program entitled “How to Profit from Design”

Written by Michael B Halley FAIP
Australian Institute of Packaging
Web site: http://www.aipack.com.au/

Overfilling silos can be prevented ........

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:26:52 -0500

The cost of overfilling your silo due to an unknown level sensor failure can be substantial.

I have blogged about this before but I still see people buying level sensors that have no way of telling you whether they are capable of functioning or not. Lost material, damaged equipment, cleanup, air quality fines and lost production costs can add up quickly.

Take a look at this video, it's dramatic and illustrates exactly what overfilling a silo is like. Then I'll tell you once again how to avoid this. Click here for the rest of the story!

Joe Lewis
Monitor Technologies

Biomass Processing Machines Feeding Green Fuel Needs in US and Europe

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:14:29 -0500

In "A Fine Grind," an article on biomass processing machines in the January/February 2008 issue of International Forest Industries, Chris Cann writes that one US company "has developed some of the foremost biomass processing machines in the world and is ready to take on the expanding European biomass market."

Using biomass for energy may be new to lots of industries, but it’s business as usual for the forest industry. "More than 60 years of experience in the business of biomass processing" Cann says, "has industry stalwart Jeffrey Specialty Equipment perfectly positioned to take advantage of the current surge in demand for biomass machinery."

Cann observes that the primary Jeffrey machine for processing biomass is the wood hog. "Those close to the industry would also know these units as hammer mills, shredders, and grinders – or just hogs. The company’s sales in the past have been dominated by its series 40 or series 50 ranges, which work at a rate of about 20-50 t/hour of material. But all that has changed quite recently and it is now the bigger models that are the best sellers," with the largest machines able to process 220 t/hour.

As examples of the direction the biomass industry is headed, Cann cites two recent orders filled by Jeffrey. "Jeffrey has delivered machines to two massive wood pellet mills that have just been established in the US, one of which is apparently bigger than anything else previously built worldwide."

He says European market is helping to drive the growth of biomass production in the US. "A large European market has been evolving for some time on the back of regulations aimed at fighting global climate change which have created incentives for power companies to boost their use of renewable resources. Europe already consumes nearly 8 Mt/y of wood pellets to run factories and power plants, and to heat entire neighbourhoods."

Cann interviewed Jeffrey Sales and Marketing Manager Doug Sublett for the article. Cann notes in his article that Jeffrey is well positioned to go global in the biomass market. "Jeffrey is a household name in the size reduction industry in North America where it does 80% of its business. But Sublett recognises the need for expansion and the opportunities available in international markets, particularly Europe…. This was part of the reason behind the company’s acquisition of Rader Companies in September last year for almost $16 million (funded by K-Tron). Rader manufactures and markets pneumatic conveying systems, screening equipment, engineered storage and reclaim systems, and truck dumpers for processing bark and wood chips for the global pulp and paper and forest industries. The company is based in Georgia but it has a headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Jeffrey intends to use that European base to increase its business in Europe and Russia."

Cann goes into great detail about wood hogs and the industries that are using them to process biomass. You can read the entire article on biomass processing machines on the Jeffrey website.

Don Dunnington
Blog Moderator

Interview Tips & Techniques #1: The Importance of Education Verification

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 20:00:10 -0500

My name is Lisa Sprowls and I am a Filtration Recruiter. I work on many sales, engineering, executive and management level positions serving the search and recruitment needs of both large and small manufacturers and distributors in the Filtration, Water & Wastewater, Separations and Environmental Industries.

With each and every finalist candidate that we present to our clients, we also provide a complete background check. Our background checks are provided by our parent company, BackTrack Inc., http://www.backtracker.com/. All reports provided include employment verification, education verification, social security trace report, motor vehicle report, reference checking and criminal records searches.

Today, more than any other time in our industry, more and more employers are requesting completed background checks prior to extending an offer to a potential candidate. With this in mind, it is very important that you, the candidate, provide a very clear and honest picture of your background to a potential new employer.

As with many situations, preparation is the key to success. The job market is very competitive and you probably will not be the only qualified candidate for a position. The deciding factor may simply be your background check. One minor exaggeration are dates of employment or degree, may remove you from the running. As a Filtration Recruiter, I have seen candidates not be considered for positions by what has been verified or not verified on their background check.

Let’s begin with education, one of the most commonly misrepresented areas of a resume.

With the advent of the Internet, there has been an explosion in the number of unaccredited or diploma mills schools. With the proliferation of sites on the internet promising “degrees for life experience”, “degrees without setting foot inside of a classroom,” “earn the degree you deserve in six weeks,” and others, it has become easier for people to simply buy a college degree without having the skills or qualifications necessary.

Emails containing these promises arrive daily in your in box. As these “schools” become more prevalent, you may be tempted to sign up, pay the money and receive such a degree as to make your resume appear more creditable. Be leery of these types of schools. In order for a background screening company to verify your degree, it must come from an accredited school not what is called a “diploma mill”.

For more details regarding diploma mills, click here: http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/index.html
or http://www.ope.ed.gov/accreditation.

You may also choose to provide on your resume that you did receive a degree, when in fact you are actually just a few credits short or may still owe funds to the school. When a background check is conducted, the company will contact the school and provide to the employer that you do not have a degree. You may think this is minor, but to an employer, this becomes a red flag as to the type of person you are.

Come back often to view more interview tips and techniques that will assist you in your interviewing process. To learn more about our organization or what positions we may have that you may have an interest in, please contact me at 800-992-3875 ext. 313.

Lisa Sprowls

Filtration Recruiter

Recruiter Solutions International

8850 Tyler Blvd.

Mentor, OH 44060

800-992-3875 ext. 313

lisa@rsipeople.com

www.rsipeople.com

Level sensor mounting location for dummies.......

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:27:27 -0500

I might have blogged about this before so please bear with me if this sounds familiar, but it's very important.

Recently our senior application engineer drafted a story for our quarterly newsletter that highlighted the importance of selecting a proper location for the mounting of a continuous level sensor or inventory monitor.

Take a look at the picture here and you'll see his point. In this case the inventory in the silo is monitored using a smart weight & cable sensor. These devices are accurate and very reliable.

As you can see in the photo, the weight & cable just barely misses a cross-beam inside the silo. Making sure that you locate the sensor so as not to have obstructions within the path of the sensor is very important.

Want to read the rest of the story? Click here.

Joe Lewis

The Future of Manufacturing in Post Modern Times

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:00:55 -0500

PowderandBulk.com publisher Joe Taylor suggested it would be fun to do one of those year-end articles, maybe predicting what will happen in the New Year. Like, "Ohio State's football team won't be humiliated in the 2008 BCS bowl the way it was in 2007." (Joe couldn't help reminding me of how wrong I was in taking his dinner bet on the OSU-Florida game at the beginning of this year).

"Those who live by the crystal ball end up eating glass," an economist friend once warned me. So while I feel it's way beyond my limited powers to predict 2008 sports winners or the economy, I'm a bit more comfortable reflecting on what I've learned this year. In thinking over 2007, one thing stands out: the number of outstanding manufacturing facilities I've seen across the U.S. I've visited the manufacturing facilities of Gundlach Equipment Corporation in Belleville, Illinois, Pennsylvania Crusher's manufacturing plant in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Jeffrey Specialty Equipment Corporation's plant in Woodruff, South Carolina, and Premier Pneumatics in Salina, Kansas.

Every one of these facilities is dedicated to producing capital equipment that in turn is used to add significant value to the processes where they are employed. Two of them, Jeffrey and Penn Crusher, have been manufacturing industrial equipment for more than 100 years. All have skilled workers, excellent engineering, design and production capabilities, and all have experienced steady growth over recent years.

There was a period in these post modern times when manufacturing was in decline, but it's been a growth business for these manufacturers. Talk to Mark Kohler at Gundlach or Marty Bates at Penn Crusher, and they'll tell you about how they've worked to increase production and shorten lead times for their parts and equipment. Since becoming part of K-Tron International's Size Reduction Group, Mark and Marty, along with their counterparts at Jeffrey, and most recently Rader, have begun collaborating to develop best practices and share production resources.

At a recent visit to Penn Crusher in Cuyahoga Falls, a suburb of Akron, Ohio, Marty Bates talked about how Penn Crusher has begun working with Jeffrey to improve the manufacturing capabilities of Rader, which was acquired in September of 2007. It doesn't take long in talking to Marty, or in walking through the factory and talking to the people you meet on the floor, to come to the conclusion that these folks in Ohio like making things. And they're good at it, too. So here's my observation for 2007 and fearless prediction for 2008: for those who have the skill, there's a very good future in manufacturing.

As for Ohio State: whatever happens, Buckeye fans had a better run than expected this year. No one picked OSU to be in the BCS, and if they can stay off the cover of Sports Illustrated they have a shot this time. Joe Taylor wouldn't bet a dinner on the game this time; so that's a good sign. I'm sure I'd find some folks at the Penn Crusher plant in Cuyahoga Falls who'll be rooting along for Ohio State on January 7, 2008, when they meet LSU at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Happy New Year to all and "Go Buckeyes."
Don Dunnington
Blog Moderator

Could not automatically write it!

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:27:16 -0500

The November meeting of the Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] took the form of a plant visit when members and guests visited Visy Automation in the outer Melbourne suburb of Coolaroo.

Visy Automation was formed in 1978 and specialises in the engineering and integration of high quality packaging equipment and robotic solutions designed to increase productivity, profitability and plant safety levels. The visitors came away with an understanding that almost all disciplines within the domain of Packaging Technology can be automated in some form or another. At this stage writing reports is not automated so it is up to me to tell the story!

Adam Lipscomb, Visy Automations’ Sales Manager for Projects, gave a most “automating” overview of the operation when he addressed the audience. Not one umming or arring or repeated comment came forth over fifteen to twenty minutes at the podium or three quarters of an hour on the shop floor; at the end although his voice was scratchy his enthusiasm had not diminished.

Team Automation comprises of dynamic engineers and development partners with significant experience in the packaging systems and flexible automation industries, offering customers full automation consultancy and project management services, the design and manufacture of special purpose machinery, control systems design and development, as well as all the necessary equipment support, service and training.

Adam related that he recently met a person who was confused as to the Visy business whether it was in packaging materials or automation. His response was that the two are intrinsically linked and that there is an obvious “synergy” between packaging material and packaging automation.

The stand out advice was that “in the competitive world market anywhere you can improve productivity and reduce OH&S risks you can achieve an overall business advantage” and in defence of redundancy it was mentioned that only “low value added” positions are generally replaced by automation. Underpinning automation there is always the desire to retain staff, knowledge and provide for more skilled employment with the resultant higher wages.

“in the competitive world market anywhere you can improve productivity and reduce OH&S risks you can achieve an overall business advantage”

Visy Automation claims to be the only packaging organisation “fair dinkum” about automation and is exporting its technology to the world. With eleven packaging partners across the globe and a joint venture in the USA – HartnessVisy Automation, Visy Automation has expectations of achieving US$80million in global sales by 2010.

Adam presented a number of Visy’s successful automated solutions including a high speed robotic palletising system from the HartnessVisy Automation joint venture that is palletising 120 cartons a minute and an innovative tray former that has cut cardboard wastage from 3% to 1%.

The high speed palletiser outlined cost approximately US$0.6M to install but delivered over a million dollars worth savings from light-weighting bottles alone compared to older ‘legacy’ palletising systems. The system is installed into one of the industries that Visy Automation targets and holds forth in the Visy Vision Statement “To be the most successful, innovative, customer relationship-orientated and cost efficient provider of packaging and recycling services to the Australasian food, beverage and primary industries”

Visy Automation builds all systems in house using the best available robotics and offers clients:-

The design, manufacture and construction of stand-alone packaging equipment
The supply, integration and support for world class 3rd party equipment
Automation and Packaging System project feasibility and specification
Project Management and facilitation services
Cost benefit analysis for automation and packaging systems projects
Development of long-term plant wide packaging and automation strategies

The automation of packaging systems can only make Australian Industry more internationally competitive increasing exports and decreasing our reliance on imports and Team Automation is waiting for your call.

The evening concluded with a presentation to the host and an automatic gravitation to a local watering hole to consider the messages received.

by Michael B Halley FAIP
Australian Institute of Packaging
www.aipack.com.au

Visy Automation
www.visyautomation.com.au

Let's work together on Wireless protocols

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 15:32:20 -0500

It seems like "dejavu". In the last couple of decades of the 20th century the big giant process instrumentation companies did battle to see who was going to be able to drive the standards for communication protocols. The big battles were between HART and Foundation Fieldbus that emanated out of the ISA SP50 committee.

If memory serves me, HART had become a defacto standard long before the SP50 was finished with their work and the first commercial products were available. The fight between Emerson/Rosemount and Foxboro, Honeywell and others was a classic.... and the user was not served very well if you ask me.

There are still three primary field instrument communication standards, e.g. HART, Foundation Fieldbus and Profibus. A recent research study reported that the first Fieldbus device was installed in 1997 and there are now almost 1.4 million Fieldbus devices installed around the world. However, this pales by comparison to HART.

How does this relate to the powder and bulk solids markets? Sensors, especially level measurement sensors, are used in increasing numbers in the monitoring of material inventory and aspects of powder handling and processing.

Wireless communication exists and is here to stay, especially as the cost for hard wired systems increases and the cost of wireless continues to decrease. Understanding the development of standards for wireless protocols is important for even the powder handling professional.

For more on this subject click here.

Joe Lewis

Message to engineers ...... "step up and assume a leadership roll"

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:57:34 -0500

I recently was able to speak in front of a group of 40 engineers representing some 1,000 years of experience in bulk solids material handling at the October meeting of the HMHS (Houston Material Handling Society). This was truly a humbling experience for me ....... and one I took very seriously so I was not going to present a commercial.

A friend of mine recently wrote an Op-Ed for an automation magazine and in his editorial he said some things that I really identified with and I felt the HMHS engineers could benefit from so I started of the meeting with some quotes from Dr. Peter Martin's editorial in the September issue of InTech magazine where he stated that "engineers must step up and assume a leadership role within their companies by helping drive new levels of business performance".

He further stated that the reason most companies don't understand the true benefit of the engineering discipline is that "most financial systems cannot measure the improvements" that engineers make. I decided that my discussion about "recent directions in level monitoring and measurement of bulk solids" needed to provide these engineers some tidbits they could use to "add value" to their companies performance.

Want to know more? Click here for the rest of the story.

Guided wave radar in next-generation Ethanol plant

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:07:13 -0500

The latest generation of an Ethanol producing plant is just about to go on-line in Wisconsin. The news story and video can be found at the link here. In addition, guided wave radar is instrumental at this facility and used to measure changing levels of corn in various conditions. The benefit of guided wave radar is its continuous measurement capability, moderate cost, ease of installation and start-up. Guided wave radar technology is used in a wide variety of applications in many different industries. It's universal appeal is another reason for the fact that it is growing in popularity and use by some 21% per year (according to a recent VDC market study and report).

Want to see more? Click here.

It's a Material World, So Why Is It So Hard to Explain Our Industry?

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:45:28 -0500

Recently K-Tron International was included in an AP story on "Europe's tough antitrust stance" towards Microsoft. The thrust of the story was how "most companies do not have enough market muscle to require their customers to buy a broad sweep of their products, as Microsoft has."

It was encouraging to see a news reporter expand a business story to include a wider scope of manufacturers. However, it was equally discouraging to see once again how little news people understand about the process industries. This is how the article described our business:

"K-Tron makes machines that crush or weigh objects and tubes that feed material into other industrial machines. Its customers are global and its factories are in the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and China."

This awkward description starts off with "crush or weigh objects," a muddle of crushers (see Gundlach, Penn Crusher or Jeffrey) and weigh feeders. These machines are about as far apart as you can get in process equipment. Then, in an effort to avoid using a technical-sounding term (perhaps "pneumatic conveyors") we are treated to the inelegant-sounding "tubes that feed material into other industrial machines."

It's a mystery how such inexact descriptions are supposed to clarify things for the reader. The problem is that neither the public, nor the journalists who enlighten them, have the vocabulary—the mental images—necessary for a clear description of the process industries. When people think of manufacturing—if they think about it at all—they seem to have this image of cars moving along Henry Ford's assembly line.

This is a Problem for Your Industry
When the popular media fail to explain your industry adequately, the public has no clue how much they depend on the materials you process. In an age of instant pundits and global news, it's dangerous for people to be uniformed about your business.

You Can Help Right Here on this Blog
I'd like to enlist your help through this blog to improve the situation. With your help we can take the public on a tour of our plants and show them how our processes and equipment provide the materials that form, feed or improve our material world. You can contribute a story: sign up to become an author (we even offer prizes), comment here on this or other blog articles, or just send an email to don@powderandbulk.com and I'll post a story for you. Tell us about your process, and the next time a neighbor asks you what you do, you can show them.

Packaging : Opportunities Abound With Technology

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:38:24 -0500

The traditional joint meeting of members from Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] and the Technical association for the pulp and paper industry of Australia and New Zealand [APPITA] was held in Melbourne in August this year.

Two presenters were coopted to bring information about packaging trends that are related to the activities of members belonging to the two special interest groups. A commendable sixty professionals turned out to pay attention to the addresses by Russell Allan of XQ Innovation and Rodney Urquart CEO of CRC Smartprint.

Russell Allan with a solid background in paperboard packaging formed XQ Innovation and has developed technological advanced methods of determining aspects of paper used in packaging that are still somewhat “on the dark side”.

Mr Allan contends that, although paper as a packaging material has many advantages over other forms of packaging, it suffers from variability in its manufacture and processing into corrugated boxes. The extent of the strength variability in the paper due to run of mill variation and to the boxes during corrugating and subsequent conversion has the effect of increasing the weight of this packaging component by up to 40% over its strictly necessary weight.

The acceptance of this level of variation by the packaging industry leads to negative commercial and environmental impacts and XQ Innovation can assist both paper manufacturers and converters to make productivity gains.

Shear stiffness of corrugated boxes underpins the opportunities to manufacture and convert paper that is more even in both cross and machine direction. A number of kaleidoscopic graphs gave stunning evidence of the messages that Russell was delivering. Field research findings debunk the consideration that the paper converted to corrugated fiberboard shippers need the weight that now comes off the machines.

What XQ Innovation findings reveal is that, despite constant paper weight and thickness, the variation in strength of paper and the conversion damage occurring to boxes in their manufacture mean that nearly all boxes do not meet their full performance potential.

By using the company BQM and PQM machines it is possible to determine the strength of the paper as it comes of the machine and also to determine degradation of the corrugated material during box manufacture. An image showing square metre sections across a sheet of paper gave an indication of the different paper strengths that are able to the calibrated. The strongest square metre compared with the weakest by using XQ testing indicates that as much as 25% is added to the cost. [A square metre is typically the face area of paper used to make a standard box]

Variation in strength from a number of manufacturing processes were compared and as often is the case nature wins hands down. A spider’s web is +/- 0.5% whilst a corrugated box can be as much as 40% with competitive materials well below. Aluminum and steel range around 1% and polymers in the 5% region. As Russell Allan said, answering his own question, “why do we accept this variation?”……. it is all about control of variations in manufacture. He contends that end users and their suppliers accept performance criteria that are not based on any conformance standard.

Whilst the findings of XQ Innovation may be debatable the conclusions to date are obviously beyond the consideration stage as the Intellectual Property rights to develop in-line versions of the instrumentation have been sold to an international instrument maker.

If we can all have the strength to persevere some significant cost savings in paperboard packaging can be achieved.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Functional Communication Surfaces, also known as the CRC Smartprint, operates its corporate office from Monash University’s Clayton Campus in Victoria. The Centre engages both local and international students and researchers through its four research nodes - Australian National University, CSIRO (ensis), Monash University and University of Wollongong and is controlled by Rodney Urquhart, CEO

The Centre is engaged in conducting pure and applied research into various aspects of printing; including printable materials, printing processes and materials used within industry. CRC Smartprint is focused on developing new products and manufacturing processes in the rapidly expanding area of enhanced communication surfaces for the knowledge economy.

In essence Cooperative Research Centres exist to put industry and academia together and after hearing Rod Urquhart’s message there can be no doubt that the CRC Smartprint has achieved the mission. Again much of the message was delivered with coloured graphs and images, but the results are outstanding.

The exponential growth of digital printing has grounding in the work done by CRC Smartprint and as Rod stated “is taking chunks out of lithography” but is really in its infancy. Many research activities revolve around new techniques for digital printing, but the traditionalists can take comfort as research into other applications, including lithography is also in train.

De-inking of newsprint is an exciting research program that results in improved separation of the printed inks and paper fibres and also the recovery of separated particulates. Other innovations being developed are time and temperature indicators as well as freshness and tamper evident sensors all of which will simply be printed onto the package.

Members were told about smart barcodes where it was possible to surcharge a consumer for value adding. The example was bottled wine where it was possible to determine at the point of sale if the consumer had selected a chilled or non-chilled bottle.

Much of the research is locked in commercial in confidence agreements but Rod Urquhart was able to provide enough evidence to prove that the CRC Smartprint has been more than proactive in the years since formation in 2001.

After a spirited question time, the proceedings closed with a gift for the presenters delivered by Llewellyn Stephens National Chairman of AIP. David Vercoe the Victorian Chair of APPITA attended but as just another audience member.

Written by Michael B Halley FAIP
Australian Institute of Packaging
http://www.aipack.com.au/