A conveyor experiences downtime about every three weeks due to excessive vibration. The mechanics have replaced the original motor pedestals with ones that are several times more rigid. Yet, every so often the motor vibration overload monitor kicks the line off. The production people are complaining this not only stops the line but causes a jam. They have to move boxes apart before they can restart the line.
Because of the randomness and infrequency of the problem, nobody has been stationed along the line to watch it and see what is going on when the vibration overload stops the line.
How can you best troubleshoot this problem?
This is an actual case. It was solved in the days before cheap video cameras. Your solution would be to mount some cameras along the line and then watch the “immediately before the vibration trip” footage.
In the actual case, the production supervisor felt it cost less to post a couple of entry level production workers along the line than to keep taking these revenue hits.
What they found wasn’t that the line stoppage resulted in a pile-up, but that a pile-up resulted in a line stoppage. The pile-up would be caused when a box entered the conveyor at too much of an angle, and then turned lengthwise trying to go around a turn. Adding guide arms solved this design flaw.
