Case Studies

General Electric (GE)

Jack Woollacott had a problem. As Process Specialist for General Electric's X-Ray Target Plant, Jack and his staff were manufacturing internal components used in X-Ray machines. These internal components (disks) were made from a combination of Tungsten and other metals to produce a part that not only was critical to the life of the machine and how many photos it could take, they were heavy, extremely heavy. These disks, approximately 16 inches in diameter by 6 inches thick and weighing over 40 pounds each were being transported throughout the plant and to customers on modified wood platforms that were a combination pallet and crate with covers. Together these components were banded and shipped as a unit.

The Problem

These pallet/crates were made from heavy-duty wood which looked and worked great on the first trip, but in a short period of time the wood would wear resulting in splinters, the nails holding everything together would protrude through the wood creating a dangerous situation for operators, and they would have to be replaced often. While using heavy-duty wood was a logical choice to begin with, the end result was parts that were just plain heavy, dangerous, and expensive!

The Challenge

Would it be possible to make something that would "last forever," be safer for GE employees, comparable in weight to the wood pallet/crates, and be cost effective?

The Solution

Trying to design a pallet/crate using wood again would have been counter-productive. While we were confident that some modifications would help, we weren't convinced that a long lasting solution would be the result. We decided to look at developing a pallet/lid made from steel. Duplicating the same size would have been too heavy. Together with our Certified Welding Engineer (CWE) we came up with a lower profile steel pallet, using much less material while increasing the strength and we added a small "lip" on the deck to keep the disks in place. Instead of a wood cover, we used sheet metal. General Electric operators were still able to ship the same amount of parts using forklifts or smaller lift jacks since we made allowances for this, while the sheet metal covers were much more durable than before. The end result was steel pallets and covers that weighed less, were incredibly durable and long-lasting, and General Electric didn't need to replace them again…resulting in a Total Lower Cost. Even better, our units are painted in General Electric Blue…always a good thing!