Problem
When an inspection revealed organic material on 80,000 wooden product-storage components in multiple warehouses, a Virginia-based manufacturing company was left with two options: destroy the storage units and purchase new ones, or find a vendor with the capability of efficiently removing the organic material.
The fouling had the potential to ruin millions of dollars’ worth of product, so the company quickly began researching its options. The company found it would be less expensive to clean the contaminated storage units than to destroy them and purchase new ones.
The first industrial cleaning contractor the company hired attempted to use dry ice blasting, but managed to clean only 20 units per day. Since the company did not want to wait 11 years for the project to be completed, it dismissed the original cleaning company and contacted MPW Industrial Services.
Solution
MPW’s sales team had experience with similar jobs, so they consulted with their co-workers in engineering and operations to rapidly devise schematics that would maximize the efficiency and safety of the project.
The customized system, which MPW assembled in four days, functioned like a car wash. The storage components were placed onto a conveyor system, which ran under a pressure-washing spray bar. An automated compressed-air dryer removed excess water from the items before they were chemically treated. Finally, the storage components were moved into a tent outfitted with high-powered heaters and industrial dehumidifiers to ensure moisture content was below 15 percent.
There were four different types of storage units, but MPW devised different washing techniques for each without difficulty.
Results
MPW’s automated solution kept its workers from harm’s way, as there were zero safety issues during the project.
MPW eliminated the organic material from 80,000 units in five months. At its peak efficiency, MPW cleaned an average of 1,300 units per day, which was 65-times faster than the previous contractor.
Customer reaction to the project was all extremely positive, as the project was completed ahead of schedule.
MPW received a Job Performance Evaluation from three customer sites. The client’s Manager of Quality Compliance awarded MPW with perfect ratings across all eight key performance categories on all three forms, writing “Very pleased with all levels of service.”