College of Engineering Unit:
The sponsor for this project, Greenberry Industrial has reached out to Oregon State’s Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing engineering department to facilitate process improvements on material handling and storage practices. Greenberry Industrial, is a heavy industrial fabricator and mechanical installation provider with locations across the United States. Greenberry supplies services for industries such as: construction, nuclear, food processing, power, and energy.
Greenberry’s main storage area, the North Yard, was the team’s primary focus due to lack of overall organization and ability to quickly identify raw material. It was the team’s intention to first organize materials into bays based on job number, and then to optimize the storage by implementing vertical storage racks for better space utilization.
Many of the current problems Greenberry experienced with material flow stems from a lack of organization and ease of identifying where material should be or is expected to be. This lack of organization resulted in wasted time from both material handlers and machine operators who needed the next workable piece. Having machine operators leave their machine to find material is a waste of both time and resources as they are well trained in their operations and idle time spent addressing organizational issues results in loss of productivity and capital investment into the machines.
Another material handling inefficiency that Team 201 looked to improve is the way material flows out of a machine called the Prostar. Initially, after material is finished being processed it slides down a row of rollers and then is pushed off to the side where either the Prostar operator or another employee is responsible for moving it outside so a forklift can easily transport it to the next station. Team 201 proposed extending the length of the rollers, so it rolls outside where the forklift is easily able to grab it. This would save time and money because currently after the material is pushed off to the side the Prostar operator must take time away from their job to hook it up to a crane and push it outside where it is placed on the floor. This must be done while trying to maneuver through assembled products that are often stored in the Prostar shop.
Team 201 also developed an implementation plan to pass on to Greenberry. Due to capstone time constraints, the team was not able to help with improvements to the design once it has been implemented by Greenberry. To make it easier for Greenberry to change the layout of the north yard and extend the rollers, the team provided thorough documentation explaining what Greenberry must do to successfully implement the changes that have been suggested.
Industry Sponsor(s):
Project Communication Piece(s):
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 MIME.201 Poster | 1.35 MB |