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(But who wants to wait while large pictures download?) You just have to click on the smaller one to fetch it. |
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Before the office changes, cutting a stencil, that is glued to the stone face before sandblasting, required staff to prepare the stencil cutter which required walking the length of the office to the cutter, then return to the computer to start the cutter. Finished stencils were inspected on the table to the left of the stencil cutters. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |
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The new office layout recovered some needed space for expansion. The stencil inspection table was moved onto the production floor. The stencil cutters were moved beside the door to the production floor and close to the staff that made the stencils. The revised office layout also brought filing cabinets of additional graphics and designs from the end of the office closer to the desks of the staff that use the files. Again, reducing the walking and searching time required to find these appropriate files. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |
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Before the line changes, the stones entered the production floor lying down on the conveyor. Glue was applied by brush to the stone surface. Stencils were stored on shelves. The number of stencils in-process would vary up to 150 pre-cut stencils. The stencil was applied while the stone was laid flat on the conveyor. This appeared to be awkward since applying the stencil onto the stone from above often took several attempts to align the stencil correctly. Letters and shapes were picked out of the stencil and the stone was stood upright for sandblasting. The movement of the stone into the upright position often took two people and was potentially dangerous. Notice the number of stones in-process. During busy periods, up to 50 stones would be in-process. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |
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After the line changes, the stones enters the building in an upright position. The water based glue is sprayed on using an air gun. The stencil checking desk is now accompanied by a desk used as a supermarket for the stencils. No more than 5 stencils are staged in the supermarket. The stencil is applied while the stone is standing upright on the conveyor using a clamp that allows the stencil to be draped in front of the stone and squeggied on. Now the stencil application operation has a workstation fully supplied to service the needs of the applicator. Only one stone is at the glue application area, one stone at each stencil application stations and one stone is staged for the sandblasting operation at the end of each application station. A total of 5 stones. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |
 
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Before the line changes, the sandblasted stones were stripped of the stencil then washed with a Varsol solution to remove the glue, then washed with water before crating. The stones would move around on the conveyor to be crated. An appropriate sized crate would be selected from the pile of discarded crates outside. Repairs to the selected crate's intergrity would be made before the stone was installed into the crate. Notice the number of stones in-process. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |
 
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After the line changes, the stones are washed with plain soup and water. The splash curtain splits in the middle to allow the stone to enter the wash station. It is also hinged to allow for large stones to access the wash station. The stones are crated to the right of the wash station which is located at the shipping doors. Since there a fewer stones in-process, the original crate used to ship the stone is staged at shipping for reuse. This cuts down on the time spent searching the outdoor crate pile for a crate that is the right size as well as the amount of reconstruction time of damaged crates to make them ready for shipping. Notice the number of stones in-process - NONE. As soon as the stone is washed, it is crated and staged on the loading dock for pick up. Click on the thumbnail to fetch the larger picture. |