Sub Zero

Project Background

Sub Zero has built a new facility in Fitchburg, Wisconsin to manufacture their new line of Series 600 refrigerators. Part of the new facility includes a state of the art testing system to insure quality for this new line. Sub Zero asked Peach State Integrated Technologies to design and implement a turnkey material handling system to give Sub Zero maximum flexibility for their testing requirements.

Project Objectives

• Design a test system to handle the production rate of one unit every 82 seconds.
• Minimize the amount of accumulation needed for these tests by utilizing overhead mobile electrification loops to test the refrigerators in motion.
• Use wireless data transmission is used to monitor and record the test results.
• Incorporate RFID tags into the solution to track data and product locations in the system.
• Minimize noise from over three hundred pallet locations by using chain driven powered roller conveyors.

Solution Benefits

• Testing in motion through use of mobile electrification greatly reduced the number of accumulation conveyors required to complete extensive testing.
• Using powered chain driven live roller conveyors reduced the cost of spare parts and provided zone length flexibility for future product design
• Chain transfers provided a means to automatically convey refrigerators to each work station.
• Three high speed transfer cars eliminated the need for twenty four chain transfers and provided a significant savings.
• The design provided multiple routes for removal of refrigerators needing rework. This insured continuous product flow through out the system.
• System software provides the ability to track individual units anywhere in the testing area.
• Products flow through the system with minimal operator interface.
• System expansion is built into the design for future growth.