Due to high demand of two wheelers and four wheelers under stiff competitive environment, quality remains a major concern.
Sweeping is the very important cleaning function within automobile industry. It is well proven that shop floor, plant and machinery can only be maintained
well only if airborne dust is controlled in the recommended way.
In Automobile manufacturing, usage of oil, coolant and grease is commonly found, dust getting mixed with these leads to contamination and also affects the quality of the produced component and many a time leads to rejections. To avoid this, first and the primary job remains dust free sweeping of outside and inside areas on a regular basis.
Application Areas
Outside Roads
Movement of heavy vehicles is most commonly found due to frequent delivery of raw material and components and of transporting of finished vehicles. These vehicles bring in huge quantity of dust and often the roads remain dirty. Vacuum Sweeping machines are the only solution to maintain clean roads as manual brooming is merely distributing dust from one side to the other. Vacuum Sweeping ensures dust free sweeping and machines in various sizes are available with features like water springing system for dust suppression and vacuuming thereafter.
Outside Small Lanes
Compact machines with combined feature for bulk debris collection and fine dust collection are the right choice. Movement of the main broom mechanically makes the dirt contain in the collection bin / hopper and side brushes ensures that corners and sides evenly swept. The vacuum fan within the machine acts as dust controller.
Shop floor cleaning and maintenance
Shop floor and gangway cleaning is extremely critical. Heavy movement of trolleys, cranes, forklifts and people makes the gangway quite dirty as spillages remains a common phenomenon. Non- soluble debris such as nut bolts, screws etc. also can lead to accidents hence cleaning of gangways multiple times remains basic requirement. Combination machines are the best recommendation for these areas where a Scrubber Drier and Sweeping machine do a combined job of sweeping, scrubbing and drying in a single pass.
Gangways are generally epoxy floor. Hence depending upon the density of dirt the scrubbing brush pressure can be adjusted and also the water flow can be controlled. These machines are with adjustable sweeping width of up to 1500mm and container capacity of up to 450lt and fresh/ dirty water tank of up to 380lt.
In short, these machines sweep and scrub in one pass. Sweeping and scrubbing functions are separate. ClearView™ design improves operator sightlines for optimal edge cleaning. Retractable offset deck for optimal and reliable edge cleaning. DustGuard™ design allows in controlling airborne dust when operating. Ecoflex™ design allows green (and consequently reduced costs), flexible and easy cleaning up to 30% LPG or diesel fuel savings. Increased battery runtime reduces charging demands. Quieter operation offers greater scheduling flexibility.
It is absolutely essential to ensure that right type and size of the machines are used to keep entire areas clean and all factors evaluated before investing in the right combination of machines such as :-
• Combination machine or separate machines
• Mode of drive: battery, petrol, diesel or LPG
• Battery type and capacity
• Features of the machine for optimal water & chemical usage and brush wear out
• Driving speed versus performing speed
• Size and turning radius
• Filtration system in the machine
• Hopper / container capacity
Siddhartha Shankar
National Manager – Industrial Sales
Nilfisk Advance India Ltd