Situation

• Facing increased production demand an automotive assembly plant had limited sludge removal equipment that could not handle the increased loading
• Sludge bags had to be changed many times per shift which often overflowed causing safety issues as well as increased manpower to clean it up – costs were high

Background

• OEM was operating at a production rate of 600 units per day and wanted to increase to 900 per day
• The system was manually operated and labor intensive
• The sludge system’s removal equipment had already been retrofitted from the original “drum” design to a scraper system
• This was acceptable for the 600 unit per day production rate but would not be capable of handling the 900 rate

Solution

• Galaxy consulted with a prominent sludge removal equipment manufacturer and had them contact the OEM
• A proposal was developed to retrofit the sludge systems with new pumps, consolidators, and a sludge dryer that would handle the solids loading

Results

• Galaxy operates the sludge removal system with 10% less chemistry due to the increased effectiveness of the mechanics
• Labor has been reduced to the simple changing of the collection gondola twice per day
• Sludge solids increased from 30% to over 50% thus lowering disposal costs
• Sludge pit cleanout frequency has been extended by 50%

CS 4 – OEM Paint Shop Improves Sludge Removal