Can glue really help to make your production line more profitable? Yes, of course. And we're not just saying that because we're glue fanatics!
At LD Davis, we make it a priority to help our customers run their business as efficiently, and profitably, as possible. To assist with that, our Technical team offers free glue audits to our customers. We recommend these audits on a regular basis (semi-annually or annually) to ensure that you are running your glue and gluing equipment at its fullest potential.
What Happens During A Glue audit?
You may be wondering, what happens during a glue audit? The process is very simple.
Your Technical Sales Managers will coordinate a date and time with you to visit your production facility. Once they arrive, they will do the following:
- Measure viscosity and solids in each glue tank to confirm it is within specification (over or under dilution)
- Take and record glue temperature on all machines to confirm it is within the recommended running parameters
- Verify glue film thickness using a mil depth gauge to ensure the appropriate amount of glue is being applied.
- Confirm that glue and equipment are running at proper speeds
- Provide glue training to new employees and equipment operators
An added bonus of having our team of glue experts visit you, is they can show your equipment operators how to take these measurements in the future. This will help your team stay as productive as possible, even between glue audits.
Glue Audit Success Story
You may be wondering how you could benefit from have our team of glue expert visit your facility for a glue audit. Here's a recent success story from one of our customers.
Our Technical Sales Manager recently visited a rigid box customer that was using one of our gelatin based glue formulas on their Emmeci machine to make very large, deep boxes. Upon arrival to their facility, our team took note of several glue and equipment settings:
- The glue solids were approximately 54% solids
- The glue thickness at the roller was approximately 5 mils
- The temperature of the glue at the roller was approximately 63 degrees C
- The glue tank temperature was set at 75 degree C
At these settings, the customer was able to run about 700 boxes per hour.
Our Technical Sales Manager recommended, and assisted the customer to make a few adjustments:
- The solids were able to be lowered to approximately 47%
- The glue film thickness at the roller was lowered to 3 mils
- The temperature was raised to 65 degrees C at the roller
- The temperature of the glue was raised to 80 degree C in the glue tank
After these changes were made, the customer was able to run this same glue formula on their Emmeci at approximately 1300 boxes per hour.
That's more than an 85% increase in productivity per hour!
How did these changes benefit the customer:
- Able to use less glue per box, which resulted in a cost savings in raw materials
- Able to manufacture 600 additional boxes per hour, resulting in efficiency savings
- This particular box run could be completed in almost half the time than expected, resulting in time and labor savings
Ready for your own glue audit? Our team would be happy to visit you, and help your team increase productivity. Let's chat some more about your glue challenges.
