Why it makes sense to start using automatic Plotter?

Are you worried about the transfer of the slab drawings between the designer and the shop floor? There’s no reason to worry about this, because the information transfers automatically from the designing software to the Plotter E9 –machine. Hence, manual information transferring is not required anymore. Plotter is compatible with the most common design programs, for example, CAD, Tekla Structures and Strusoft.

Occasionally you need to change the bed plan in the middle of the production. This happens if, for example, the casted hollow-core slab doesn’t meet the quality requirements or casting doesn’t go according to the plan. This may be due to problems in concrete mix, a machine error or another unpredictable event. It’s also possible that the original drawing includes a mistake. This, on the other hand, leads to small changes in production.

For instance, you may need to change the location of slab information texts if you find out that on the very spot there needs to be a hole for an air conditioning duct. Do you ponder how this affects the Plotter’s activities? Once the production plan is synced with the Plotter, the plan can be changed at any moment. This can be done also on the machine at the shop floor. The changes will also by synced with the production planning database. The communication is two-way: from the production planning to the Plotter and from the Plotter to the production planning.

Mistakes happen in all factories; it’s just human. One mistake may not cost a lot, however, when repeated mistakes become very expensive. If a slab of a wrong length is delivered to the construction site, it instantly delays the construction. They need to bring the slab back down and order a replacement from the precast plant. In such a situation, you need to create a new, as optimized production plan as possible, because of the missing slab. Furthermore, if you only need to deliver this one slab – the delivery cost per square meter may turn out to be super high. It’s also possible that the construction site is forced to wait for the missing piece. hence, they have to store all the precast products that they are not able to erect. This is tough to everybody and may be extremely expensive as well.

Have you calculated how much money you spend on measurement mistakes on a yearly basis? Or how they affect customer satisfaction? It’s possible to get rid of these costly mistakes with the Plotter. It accurately marks the slabs based on the actual drawings. Hence, the quality remains the same from bed to bed. This increases your factory’s operational reliability and supply security.

When we consider new investments, payback time is the key. In the case of the Plotter, the biggest savings are reached through increase in the end product quality and decrease in the number of necessary manual tasks. In other words, the Plotter pays itself back quickly, because there are less changes to the production and less slabs are returned back to the factory due to measurement mistakes.

If your goal is to have happy customers and decreased production costs, then Elematic’s Plotter E9 may be a suitable solution to your hollow-core factory. Let me know if you’re interested so we can see how the Plotter fits to your factory.