RACKMATE™

Cut Lite and IG Unit Component Sorting

Optimization of flat glass cutting produces higher yields when a wide variety of sizes are considered.  Yet, the larger the mix at cutting, the greater the loss in production control because of sorting.

If a plant has an insulating line or tempering furnace, other levels of complexity are added to the production process.  Lites must be married together before an insulating unit can be made.  On the insulating line, the best throughput requires units with like spacer thicknesses to be made together. At the furnace, not only are order numbers important, but thickness and sometimes color of glass also come into play.

The result is manual sorting of glass, often occurring at multiple points as an order is processed.  Excessive sorting results in high levels of scratching or breakage.  The dilemma of going for high yields to reduce material waste or take large material losses to reduce manual sorting time is eliminated by RACKMATE™.

RACKMATE™ is a complete in-plant glass sorting and buggy control system. RACKMATE™ provides customization for your company's needs and requirements by considering your unique glass flow and sorting requirements, allowing for sorting criteria and buggy type differences from plant to plant.

RACKMATE™'s unique and flexible design considers several different buggy types for any cutting schedule.  Orders do not need to be segregated based upon processing requirements. Once orders are entered, they are combined into cutting schedules.  RACKMATE™ automatically sorts the glass for processing at the next workcenter to minimize manual sorting and loss while maximizing throughput and increasing productivity at each step of production.  RACKMATE™ assigns each lite to the appropriate buggy needed to make its way through the workstations in your facility. 

Through RACKMATE™'s proper usage of buggies, manual sorting is minimized and for some workcenters totally eliminated without any limitations placed on the optimization techniques.  The result is improved plant productivity, fewer rejects because of handling breakage and scratches, and a much safer working environment with no optimization yield losses.

RACKMATE™ offers a full range of reports coordinating and cross-referencing orders that have been scheduled.  Your staff can quickly locate the glass for a particular order, obtain information about the contents of any buggy slot, or identify a broken, scratched, or missing lite.

The Buggy Report details the contents of each buggy used within a schedule.  It includes the source and destination workcenters for each buggy and lists details about all the lites/units to be placed on the buggy.

The Buggy Requirements Report specifies the number and type of buggies required for a schedule.

RACKMATE™'s Work in Process labels display all down-stream tracking requirements and buggy assignments.