With so many options out there to support your material flow system, how do you know you’re picking the right equipment solution? Knowing that adaptation to change is a key requirement, we recommend tube and joint designs for flexibility, ease of assembly, and universal application. Here are just a few reasons why:
Full system functionality
Every part of your material flow system needs to work together and support production, from how product is stored in the warehouse, how it is brought to the production area, and how returnables are managed. Tube and joint structures can be used in every area of your operation using the same parts and design style to support an integrated system.
Flexibility
With tube and joint construction, if your needs change you can easily change the item, whether it’s a workstation, flow rack or something else entirely. You can add to an existing structure, reduce it to the right size for an application, or change it to accommodate new components. Things are always changing and you should be able to adjust, rather than having to replace equipment every time.
Ease of assembly
Tube and joint materials are easy and fun to work with. Anyone with experience using Lincoln Logs, Legos, or K’Nex toys will understand the concept. With training and a few simple tools, your team will be ready to start improving your operation. This ease of assembly puts more control into the hands of your operators and their immediate support team to kaizen and improve their standard work, no need to wait on a vendor or specialized maintenance team.
Durability
Your production environment is fast paced and you need equipment that can hold up to the challenge. Tube and joint materials have been used successfully in all production environments for decades. As long as the equipment is well designed and maintained properly, it will serve your needs well.
Reusable, interchangeable parts
It’s a waste to discard equipment just because something changed in the process. With tube and joint construction, you can repurpose the parts to create new equipment, saving you the cost of new materials. All of the parts are interchangeable so new orders of the same item can be used together with repurposed parts.
Repair and replaceability
Even in well-organized operations, items will see normal wear and tear or damage from abuse and require repairs. For welded structures, this often means sending the item out for extensive rework and repainting, which creates a direct cost and an indirect cost for production while the equipment is not in place. With tube and joint construction, the components are interchangeable and easily replaceable – repairs can be made in minutes with no production issues.
Inventory
You can easily keep a stock of tubes and joints on hand to build what you need when you need it. Rather than waiting weeks for purchasing to approve your request for a new workstation, select one, order it, and get in it, you can build the workstation on the spot in a day as the need arises. This approach saves time and money while ensuring the equipment is exactly correct for your need.
In addition to offering tubes and joints as parts, our MakitLean product line also includes custom designed flow racks, workstations, and cart systems that utilize tube and joint construction. Contact us to see how our solutions could work for your operation.
