The engineers at the world’s third-largest innovative agricultural input company, Bayer CropScience, were searching for a flexible connector that could be standardised throughout their global operations.
They had to be 100% dust-tight, fast, easy and safe to fit, chemical resistant and most importantly, comply with stringent international Atex explosion standards. After an extensive search, the BFM® fitting system has been selected as the standard flexible connector for Bayer CropScience’s global operations.
Need to better standardize connector inventory
As a large global agri-chemical manufacturer, Bayer CropScience had a huge variety of different flexible connectors being used in its plants around the world. They varied greatly in material type, fitting style, quality and safety. There were also such a multitude of different connectors being used in any one facility, that keeping track of replacement stock and batch-tracking in case of product faults was challenging.
In a drive to simplify and improve sustainability in their supply chain, Bayer CropScience needed to find a quality connector that could be supplied globally, provide significant production and cost efficiencies, whilst also satisfy the varying local product, environmental and workplace safety requirements.
BFM® fitting saved one plant over 32 hours per year per connector
The transparent BFM® fitting was selected for testing in several plants in Asia, and following successful trials, the BFM® fitting system has now been introduced throughout Bayer CropScience’s manufacturing facilities worldwide. The number of different connectors in use throughout the supply chain has now been drastically reduced, simplifying documentation, sourcing and warehousing.
Significant production efficiencies have already been achieved, such as at the German plant that each year undertakes more than 300 cleaning cycles (on multiple connectors each cycle): the BFM®’s 30-second snap-fit replacement vs a 5-10 minute changeover for their previous connectors saves over 32 hours per year per connector.
After searching for a solution to their global rationalisation challenge, the BFM® fitting ticked all their requirements and they are now standardising these throughout their plants worldwide.
Find out more about streamlining your flexible connector inventory.
Supplied courtesy of BFM® Distributor Walter Cleaning Systems, Germany