Fold & Glue
Milliken's next stop was the Fold & Glue Department, where the die-cut blanks were turned into finished product. The department had four kinds of machines: Two International Queens and one International Royal, which were high-speed machines but complex to setup; four International Staudes, which were slow machines but easier to setup, best used for low volume jobs; and two International 3A machines which were "window/patch" machines, using rotating cylinders which attached clear plastic "windows" and also tear-strips on envelope-style products.
Milliken asked department manager Rick Gomes about his problems. Gomes told him, "The department runs pretty good, but we get a lot of problems that are not our fault. Sean Quinn sends me a lot of orders that are one or two days from the due date, or even late already. So we have to run them as soon as possible, but there's already orders ahead of them here lined up. So I can't gang orders like he can. With those, and the rush orders too, I have to break into runs, get the order done, and then go back to the first order I broke into—so that makes for partials." "What about the glue problems?" asked Milliken. "Getting the hot melt glue guns synchronized to the belts and swords3 is the tough thing about a setup," said Gomes. "If you do the setup quick and dirty, it runs slow—but I can't run slow with our volume. Usually we get it alright, but sometimes not. Let me show you here on this Queen." Milliken was familiar with fold & glue machines, but he stood with Gomes looking at the 35' straight-line machine and nodded while Gomes talked over the noise. "The feed takes the blank from the stack here we get from Die-cut, lays it down flat, then the fingers grab and move it. At the first glue gun a line of glue gets laid down, then the swords pick up the tabs, fold them over and lay them down. They go between the top and bottom belts, which squeeze the fold while the glue sets, for the first fold. On this order, that happens again at the second guns. Getting it running at 22,000 to 27,000-an-hour like this with the swords, belts and guns synched, not too little, not too much, and not folding off—it's not easy. The Staudes are quick to setup. They're great for little jobs, but they run slow, of course."
Milliken looked at a hot melt glue gun closely. The tiny glue orifice in the brass nozzle was open, with some hardened residue around it. The fitting from the glue canister was tightened on with an automobile-style hose clamp. He touched the nozzle and it shifted slightly. "How often do you change the filter?" he asked. Gomes said, "When it's needed - we can tell."
Milliken asked, "How do you decide between the Royal and Queens or the Staudes where to run orders?" Gomes said, "If we could do what we wanted we'd run orders of 60,000 or more on the Queens or the Royal, and anything less on the Staudes. 'Course, a lot of times we can't do that." Milliken asked about the shop floor schedule. Gomes said, "Just personally, I don't look at it. By the time I get orders, I'm just going by what's getting expedited and due dates. Whatever fire is hottest, I'm putting it out."
They watched a grizzled operator setting up the Royal, banging forcefully on a sword adjustment with a steel mallet. The part didn't move. The operator swung the mallet harder and the part jumped about an inch. "What's your maintenance schedule?" asked Milliken. "Well, operators are responsible for clean-up at the end of shift, and checking oil and grease points at the start. If something breaks down, Maintenance is good about getting right on it. We've got a pretty good supply of spare parts there in the cage."
3 "Swords" were long thin smoothly curving metal pieces. When the side or tab on a blank lying flat and traveling down the length of the machine at high speed touched the sword, the sword guided it up and folded it over along an indented fold line pressed into the blank by the die-cutting operation.
Fold & Glue
Milliken's next stop was the Fold & Glue Department, where the die-cut blanks were turned into finished product. The department had four kinds of machines: Two International Queens and one International Royal, which were high-speed machines but complex to setup; four International Staudes, which were slow machines but easier to setup, best used for low volume jobs; and two International 3A machines which were "window/patch" machines, using rotating cylinders which attached clear plastic "windows" and also tear-strips on envelope-style products.
Milliken asked department manager Rick Gomes about his problems. Gomes told him, "The department runs pretty good, but we get a lot of problems that are not our fault. Sean Quinn sends me a lot of orders that are one or two days from the due date, or even late already. So we have to run them as soon as possible, but there's already orders ahead of them here lined up. So I can't gang orders like he can. With those, and the rush orders too, I have to break into runs, get the order done, and then go back to the first order I broke into—so that makes for partials." "What about the glue problems?" asked Milliken. "Getting the hot melt glue guns synchronized to the belts and swords3 is the tough thing about a setup," said Gomes. "If you do the setup quick and dirty, it runs slow—but I can't run slow with our volume. Usually we get it alright, but sometimes not. Let me show you here on this Queen." Milliken was familiar with fold & glue machines, but he stood with Gomes looking at the 35' straight-line machine and nodded while Gomes talked over the noise. "The feed takes the blank from the stack here we get from Die-cut, lays it down flat, then the fingers grab and move it. At the first glue gun a line of glue gets laid down, then the swords pick up the tabs, fold them over and lay them down. They go between the top and bottom belts, which squeeze the fold while the glue sets, for the first fold. On this order, that happens again at the second guns. Getting it running at 22,000 to 27,000-an-hour like this with the swords, belts and guns synched, not too little, not too much, and not folding off—it's not easy. The Staudes are quick to setup. They're great for little jobs, but they run slow, of course."
Milliken looked at a hot melt glue gun closely. The tiny glue orifice in the brass nozzle was open, with some hardened residue around it. The fitting from the glue canister was tightened on with an automobile-style hose clamp. He touched the nozzle and it shifted slightly. "How often do you change the filter?" he asked. Gomes said, "When it's needed - we can tell."
Milliken asked, "How do you decide between the Royal and Queens or the Staudes where to run orders?" Gomes said, "If we could do what we wanted we'd run orders of 60,000 or more on the Queens or the Royal, and anything less on the Staudes. 'Course, a lot of times we can't do that." Milliken asked about the shop floor schedule. Gomes said, "Just personally, I don't look at it. By the time I get orders, I'm just going by what's getting expedited and due dates. Whatever fire is hottest, I'm putting it out."
They watched a grizzled operator setting up the Royal, banging forcefully on a sword adjustment with a steel mallet. The part didn't move. The operator swung the mallet harder and the part jumped about an inch. "What's your maintenance schedule?" asked Milliken. "Well, operators are responsible for clean-up at the end of shift, and checking oil and grease points at the start. If something breaks down, Maintenance is good about getting right on it. We've got a pretty good supply of spare parts there in the cage."
3 "Swords" were long thin smoothly curving metal pieces. When the side or tab on a blank lying flat and traveling down the length of the machine at high speed touched the sword, the sword guided it up and folded it over along an indented fold line pressed into the blank by the die-cutting operation.
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