Sensor Enabled Magnets Reduce Cleaning Shutdowns by One Third in First Year of Operation
Challenge
Most food and bulk material processing plants have magnetic separators that remove ferrous tramp metal from raw materials at various locations throughout the production process.
Without a reliable method for identifying when these magnets are saturated with metal, plants must shut down their production lines at regular intervals for magnet cleanings, whether needed or not. This practice leads to unnecessary lost production time and increased operational costs.
Solution
Intelligent magnets from Magnetic Products, Inc, bridge the gap between necessary product safety measures and inefficient magnet maintenance processes - ultimately reducing overall production downtime and saving substantial human and capital resources.
How it works:
- Internal sensors within a magnetic separator digitally monitor metal saturation levels in real time.
- When the magnet reaches the saturation level set by the user, it sends an alert - via a mobile app or local controller.
- This alert enables plant personnel to initiate cleaning or activate an automated, self-cleaning system.
“It’s going to make us a tremendous amount of money by reducing the frequency of magnet checks.”
~ Matt Fowler, Quality & Food Safety Director, 4 Sisters and a Rice Farm in Louisiana
Use Case
Kennedy Rice Mill, a second-generation farm & family-run mill, based in Louisiana, is an industry leader in adopting cutting-edge technology to fit specific product application needs. The company adopted the Intell-I-Mag® system, and recorded the frequency of magnet cleanings to determine if
intelligent magnets reduced their production downtime.
Key Results
Kennedy Rice Mill was able to reduce production shutdowns for magnet cleanings by one third - from once a day to once every three days - and saved more than $1.5 million in lost production time in one year after installing Magnetic Products, Inc’s Intell-I-Mag® system.
| Metric | Before Intell-I-Mag® | After Intell-I-Mag® |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Revenue Per Day Due to Shutdown | $6,500 | $6,500 |
| Frequency of Shutdowns for Cleanings | 1x/day | Every 3 days |
| Shutdown Days Per Year for Cleaning | 365 | 122 |
| Lost Revenue Per Year Due to Shutdown | $2,372,500 | $790,833 |
Total Change in Lost Revenue with Intell-I-Mag® - $1,581,667
Conclusion
As demonstrated with Kennedy Rice Mill, Intell-I-Mag® o ers benefits over traditional magnet separation equipment. It gives plant operators realtime insight into metal collection, tells operators exactly when a magnet needs to be cleaned and, equally important when it does not.
Intell-I-Mag® is an Industry 4.0 tool o ffered exclusively on Magnetic Products, Inc magnetic separation equipment to maintain peak magnetic performance. It is the is the industry’s first“ intelligent” magnetic separator.