Worksite Improvement Case Studies

Pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical workplaces

Improving resistance to fluid odors and significantly increasing operability

When using PVC resin hoses with hard steel wires for transferring products such as lotions and bathwater additives, the hoses become contaminated with odors from the products, resulting in the need for separate hoses for each product.
However, replacing hoses is not easy in some situations, and replacement could lead to assembly mistakes that would likely result in product defects, so the customer must adopt appropriate countermeasures.

Switching to a reusable product reduced costs and ensured safety (preventing disconnections)

The customer was using a braid hose crimping product from another manufacturer on piping running from an emulsifier tank to a filling machine. They had previously been fastening it with a hose clamp, but switched to using a crimping product due to an accident where a disconnection occurred and the entire floor was filled with an odor that would not disperse, forcing the customer to stop operations for five days.
However, the coupling also had to be discarded when replacing the crimping product, resulting in added costs.

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Semiconductor and precision instrument workplaces

Noise and coupling disconnection caused by vibration eliminated

It was very noisy in factories due to piping vibration.
Also, sometimes the arm type coupling’s arm disengaged due to vibration, causing fluid leaks and disconnected fittings that required tiresome cleanup. In severe cases the couplings were damaged.

Damage avoided by preventing incidents caused by hose coupling leaks and disconnections

A PVC hose had been connected with a cap nut coupling, for use as a pipe carrying coolant for a system used to manufacture precision parts. However, fluid began leaking from the hose connector. In addition to stopping the manufacturing system, damage caused by leaking fluid resulted in massive damage to the line (which operated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year). Urgent measures were required.

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Factory Equipment Hose Examples

Improved wear resistance prevents holes from forming and foreign matter from entering

The customer had been using a suction hose to transport resin pellets to a molding machine hopper. However, after less than a year of use, deterioration due to wear caused holes to appear in the hose, from which debris entered, contaminating products with foreign matter and leading to defects.

Improved oil resistance reduces frequency of hose replacement due to hardening, improving workability

A competitor’s PVC hose was in use for cutting fluid circulation piping in machine tools at an automotive parts plant. However, oil caused the hose to harden, making it bend or collapse, leading to coolant liquid clogging which prevented cooling and caused production losses. Therefore, the hose had to be replaced every six months, at extremely poor efficiency, so it was desirable to reduce the hose replacement frequency.

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Plastic molding workplaces

Eliminating leakage problems, and making piping work easier and faster

Toyox’s SUPER TOYORON hose and barb fittings with hose clamp fastening were used as piping for supplying cooling water to factory machinery. However, water began to leak from the connections between the hose and the couplings. In addition to suddenly having to deal with production stoppages and to clean up the water leakage, the manufacturer also had to prevent the equipment from being exposed to the water, which would have caused a malfunction.

Improved wear resistance prevents holes from forming and foreign matter from entering

The customer had been using a suction hose to transport plastic pellets to a molding machine hopper, at a plastic molding plant for automotive parts.
However, a hole formed in the hose due to wear-based degradation after less than one year of use. Waste would enter the hose from the hole, causing foreign matter to enter products and cause defects.

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Machinery manufacturing workplaces

Eliminating oil leaks due to steel piping cracks caused by vibration, and making site operations easier

The customer was using metal piping as drain piping for cooling a crane used to transport parcels. However, vibration caused by the crane moving created stress fractures in the metal piping, causing frequent oil fluid leaks that worsened the appearance of the crane.

An over-tightened clamp cuts the hose, resulting in a water leak

A clamp had been over-tightened at a plant, cutting into the hose and causing a water leak. When they moved into a new plant, there was electrical wiring near the location of the leak, so they needed to rethink their entire hose piping configuration.

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The Food and Beverage Workplace

Improving resistance to odors and fluid accumulation at couplings for increased production efficiency

A factory used food-grade PVC hoses and barb fittings with hose clamp fastening for transferring ginger. Even after cleaning the hoses used for transferring the product, however, odors remained, giving rise to a concern the odors may affect other products. The manufacturer was also unhappy with sanitation because of fluid accumulating at the couplings.

Stabilizing production by eliminating broken thread ruptures due to hose movements

A silicone hose from a different company was used in a chocolate factory for transferring chocolate to a tank during the manufacturing process. However, in areas where the movable hose was bent, broken thread ruptures occurred. Hose ruptures during operation could lead to line stoppages, resulting in the urgent need to adopt appropriate countermeasures.

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