Problem:

A Michigan manufacturer was experiencing costly maintenance problems with their electric vibrators inside their wood fired power plant. These vibrators continuously caused damage to their screen deck and supports which in turn required costly rebuilds and repairs.

Situation:

Their existing rotary electric vibrators were mounted on 4 x 6 ft screens, which were used to screen pyrites from the exhaust gases. They run at 3600 revolutions per minute and are mounted to an arm which tapped the screen deck. The manufacturer felt that speed was the problem, so they purchased a frequency inverter to control the RPMs. This helped some, but the maintenance cost to repair the vibrator, screen deck, and supports was still excessive

Solution:

Martin Vibration Systems recommended a NTS-50-04 Vibrator because of its versatility and the ability to independently control the frequency, amplitude, and forced output. With this new system, the force output requirement was only about one-half of the force they were using with the rotary vibrator.

Problem:

A Wisconsin Confectionery required equipment to separate and spread individual pieces of candy on the processing belt to prepare the candies for coating.

Situation:

This company had difficulty separating their small, dry chocolate and other flavored candy evenly for coating application. As a result, they were experiencing a high amount of waste from the clumping of the candy during this process.

Solution:

MARTIN® NTK® Oscillators (NTK 18al) were installed to the shaking-zone frame creating vibration with low noise between 60 to 70 dBa and no oil mist discharge. The Oscillators provide their line with instant start/stop capability, and the lubrication-free and wash down safe equipment has really improved their confectionery packaging processes significantly with low waste.

Problem:

An Illinois Nutraceutical Company had applied a variety of solutions for packaging problems with one of their botanical food supplements with no success. This low-volume, fine and dry ergogenic aid required constant manual manipulation by the assembly workers.

Situation:

The Nutraceutical product would leave small quantities of herbal supplement residue on the processing assembly feeder. Very quickly, this buildup would cause blockage of this very fine, light and dry material.

Solution:

MARTIN® NCB™ Sanitary Ball Vibrators were the perfect high frequency solution for this nutritional supplement packaging blockage. The food-safe sanitary coating and efficient rotary force eliminated the herbal supplement residue buildup.

Problem:

A crushed stone quarry in Tennessee was experiencing problems with material buildup in the feeder hopper under their sizing screens.

Situation:

The material (size 1/4″ down to fines) would cling to the hopper walls and build up, eventually stopping material flow and shutting down the screening operation.

Solution:

A NCT 108 Turbine Vibrator was mounted on a channel on the end wall of the hopper. The vibrator has been installed, mounted on a 5″ X 48″ long channel and located 18″ from the bottom of the bin.

After two weeks of operation the customer reports no bin or feeder stoppages at this point. They are very pleased and we are now trying to help them solve other problems at their plant.

Problem:

A West Coast Pharmaceutical Company had a weighing and packaging machine that required employee intervention with a tapping hammer in order to settle the contents properly.

Situation:

The capsules or tablets were loaded into five-gallon buckets, but the weighing and packaging machine does not have a vibratory table. In order to properly settle the material and pack these containers, one full-time employee must constantly tap on the sides of the container with a rubber hammer. Furthermore, the line required 24-hour continuous operation to meet consumer demand and the equipment would reside in a high wash down environment.

Solution:

Martin Vibration Systems installed a MARTIN® NTP™ Continuous Impacting Linear Vibrator providing precise and controlled air vibration solution, while meeting the high wash down and non-stop requirements of this capsule packaging line.

Problem:

A precast concrete producer in North Carolina was looking for a very high performance high-frequency roller vibrator for the compaction of concrete.

Solution:

Vibrotor™ High-Frequency Roller Vibrators were an affordable solution and we were able to outfit this manufacturer with immediately, shipping from stock the same day.

Problem:

A Jellybean manufacturer in Minnesota hoped to increase productivity by replacing antiquated vibration equipment with new equipment for shaking the product to provide the proper settling of contents before shipping.

Situation:

Old and outdated packaging assemblies were reconstructed to both streamline their candy packaging processes and to conserve energy with their new “go green” business objective.

Solution:

MARTIN® TAP & PAC™ Compacting Vibrators gave this confectioner the ability to independently control their speed and amplitude and provided the energy efficiency they were hoping to achieve. The wash-down safe construction coupled with lubrication free operation of these compacting vibrators have revolutionized their packing processes.

Problem

This large vegetable producer in North America was on a quest to get more vegetables into their Gaylord containers to try to reduce their cold storage cost while they waited to process and package the veggies after the harvest.

Situation

When they approached Martin, their process was to fill containers of various frozen vegetables after the harvest and send these to cold storage until the units are sold in bulk or packaged and sold into stores.  The cold storage facility charges by the square-foot of the container and not by the pound.

Therefore, the goal was to aid in settling these vegetables and pack at least 5% more into each container without requiring an operator to stand and rake the contents, and to also do this without destroying the container, as they hope to reuse each container at least three times prior to discarding.

The company deals with millions of pounds of vegetables annually, using containers that hold 1000-1500 pounds at a time, which translates to 1000s of containers each year.

Solution

Martin suggested using a compaction table, VT 8, to gently vibrate the containers prior to cold storage.  By automatically settling the vegetables, they eliminated the need for an operator with a rake.  In addition to the considerable manpower savings, they avoided damaging the containers during the process and were able to get 5-8% more product into each container, saving a very significant amount on cold storage fees as well.