Fluids Management: Crown Equipment Corp.
Crown Equipment is the leading brand of electric lift trucks in the United States and the
fifth largest manufacturer in the world. Crown designs and manufactures 85 percent of its
lift truck components, including key parts like motors, drive units, and electronic modules.
As part of a decision to streamline its vendor population, and the number of different
products used in manufacturing, Crown consulted with Acculube's Fluid Management specialists.
Six specific goals were established:
- Reduce chemical usage and disposal
- Lengthen tool life
- Reduce the number of reportable health issues
- Generate detailed test data
- Manage, monitor and report chemical usage
- Implement new technology where beneficial
Acculube's response was a comprehensive Custom Service Program ("ACSP") that encompasses
all 125+ machines used at Crown and is fully synchronized with the company's DFT
(Demand Flow Technology) program.
The core of Acculube's Custom Service Program is a Fluid Management plan that includes:
- Extensive pre-implementation product trials and testing, both at Acculube,
and at Crown, to quantify product performance under the most strenuous operating conditions
- Weekly testing of coolant and cleaner performance at five facilities, plus documentation
- Monthly usage reports, that include a "predictive" component, and track actual dollar savings
- The monitoring and control of consigned inventory to assure "true JIT" and "zero shutdown" performance
- Multi-level, continuing communications, from coolant committees through top management briefings.
Also, extensive hands-on training for plant floor employees to assure proper fluids maintenance,
prevent health issues such as dermatitis, and reduce waste streams
- Aggressive consolidation of products (coolants, cleaners and lubricants) to lower costs,
reduce inventory management and simplify post-use processing
- An enhanced coolant recycling program
- Documentation in "meaningful terms" i.e. not just "savings realized," but savings dollars as they
relate to customer sales dollars
Acculube's Custom Service Program as implemented at Crown is an excellent example of a true
"added-value partnership" that produces continuous improvements in plant productivity, and environmental benefits.
It also provides an efficient and effective protocol for evaluating, and seamlessly adapting, advanced new
chemical strategies where and when they are warranted.
Perhaps most notably, the Acculube ACSP produced a direct, ongoing material costs savings in excess of 30%.
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