Operational Challenges
The plant utilized 840L steel buffer tanks that frequently experienced issues such as clogging, bridging, and ratholing, which were difficult to resolve. Additionally, the lack of product flow visibility made it challenging for operators to detect these issues promptly. The large steel tanks required cleaning once a month, a process that involved removal, relocation, and replacement, taking approximately four days and multiple staff members.
Furthermore, the company encountered dust leakage from a hopper connection under a Piab vacuum conveyor. The powdered product was fed into the hopper via freefall through a short, one-ended clamped connector, leading to product leakage into the production area and raising health and safety concerns.
