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newsletter spring/summer 2000 |
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Discovering Damage in the Warehouse
When a MnTAP intern
investigated options for reducing paper waste at Schmidt's
printing presses he identified ways to reduce waste in the
warehouse as well.
In printing, paper represents over 50 percent
of costs, creating a big incentive to minimize paper waste.
Schmidt Printing Inc. in Byron was recovering a few thousand
dollars annually from paper recycling. That revenue flagged
an opportunity to reduce paper waste.
Schmidt is a lithographic printer producing
inserts for the publishing and direct marketing industries.
In 1999, MnTAP intern Dan
Mains, a chemical engineering student at the University of
Minnesota, worked at Schmidt identifying ways to reduce its
paper waste.
Although his primary project focused on
paper waste at the presses, Mains discovered that approximately
five percent of all paper stock in the warehouse is damaged
to some extent. Eliminating this damage could reduce paper
waste dramatically.
"Dan's suggestions got us looking at a lot
of things," says Tim Pohlman, director of corporate manufacturing.
By documenting damage in the warehouse,
the intern helped Schmidt realize the impact of its warehouse
techniques.
"We're handling our stock a lot," says Pohlman.
They reposition paper within the Byron warehouse and move
it between there and their Rochester facility.
After the intern project with MnTAP, Schmidt
put pressure regulators on the truck lifts used to load and
unload paper to minimize wrinkling and other damage. Different
pressure settings are used depending on paper type and size.
Thick reply card stock acts spongy. If squeezed too hard it
is damaged. Other paper stock is denser and harder. Schmidt's
new paper handling equipment dropped paper waste by a fraction
of a percent, which translates into saving thousands of dollars
annually.
"We've also made a lot of progress
in trying to use up stub rolls (paper left rolled on a core
after a print run) instead of letting them pile up," says
Pohlman. Warehouse personnel are more aware of the accumulating
rolls. Now, only one stub roll of each brand and size collects
in the warehouse before it is used up.
The intern also noted that where paper was
stored in Schmidt's warehouse affected its likelihood of damage.
The row ends and bottom rolls on the paper stacks near the
aisles were damaged, highlighting the need for better protection
and greater care in operating forklifts.
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