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Innovative thinking improves throughput.
Innovative thinking has resulted in a 20 per cent increase in throughput for British Nuclear Group in the THORP store.
Research by technical support officer Max Boag identified a number of areas where operational performance could be optimised by improving both communications and computer software to enable the plant’s self guiding vehicles (SGVs) to move faster.
Controlled remotely by radio linked to a computer guidance system, the SGVs transport drums automatically around the plant. Max realised that reducing the need for communicating with them in poor reception areas, as well as reviewing their operating speed, would result in maximum efficiencies for the plant.
With the speed of the SGVs governing how much work could be completed each day, the successful review and subsequent modifications enabled Max and his team to treble the speed, raising it to a metre per second. Speeding up the process by two minutes per drum as well as improving the route taken by the SGVs to make it more direct, has enabled the team to process an extra drum every hour whilst remaining well within safe operating limits.
Once the improvements were identified, the necessary re-wiring work was carried out in house by members of the chemical plants engineering craft team, saving thousands of pounds. This work also improved the reliability of the SGVs and removed a significant element of risk for contract delivery.
“Making these relatively small changes has had a huge impact on plant operations” said Max. “Time is vital - the speed of the SGVs governs how many drums we are able to process in a day. The work that the team has done to make these improvements is very important to help us continuously improve performance.”
Rob Griffiths, engineering manager, added: “The work that the team has done has had a number of benefits for the plant; throughput and reliability has been significantly increased without affecting safety margins, and in doing so the team have gained a real sense of achievement from their application of innovation and challenge.”
Commenting on the improvements, John Clarke, Director of Thorp, added: “This is another great example of people using their experience and expertise to seek process improvements for the benefit of the business. Well done to Max and the team.”
