Automotive Components Supplier

Facility: Tier 1 Automotive Components Supplier in TN
Affected Operations: High production, close tolerance drilling of steering components with straight oil
Equipment Used: BTA (Gun Drilling) type operation
Historical Problems:

Process requirements and tolerances dictate extreme cleanliness levels.  Drilling rates produce large volumes of chips, placing unusual demands on the filter system.  Original system utilized a magnetic conveyor mandated by the high chip load, however the volume of chips missed by the magnetic conveyor required the use of duplex bag filters to protect production machines.  Frequent bag replacements (every 24 to 36 hours) created high maintenance demands, increased down time and inflated operating costs.  Target points to be achieved with improved filtration included:

• Significant reductions for filter bag replacements
• Decreased down time as relating for filtration related issues
• Improved and repeatable clarity levels
• Reduced maintenance demands and expenditures

Corrective Action:

Flow Pro Products designed solutions to employ Magnetic Filtration as the primary filtration method to yield adequate oil clarity for the process in a single pass. The existing magnetic conveyor was retained to elevate the chips from the filter to the hopper.  The existing bag filters were kept in place as a redundant guard filter.  Flow Pro recommended the use of filter bags with a lower micron rating to further improve oil clarity.