The Situation
The leaders of Minneapolis-based Process Displays, a creator of innovative displays for many notable brands and retailers, were on a growth path when they started noticing a barrier to their expansion. Their aging, over-worked baghouse collector was no longer able to keep up with demand and was impacting the facility’s air quality, the pace of production, and the company’s plans for the future.
Staff members would frequently arrive at the shop and find the baghouse not properly functioning, which would impact project workflow and cause delays in finishing packaging, and shipping products. Daily workloads often shifted and deadlines were pushed back to accommodate for the underperforming collector.
An additional challenge was a haze that would occasionally form and decrease the air quality and visibility within the shop. Along with environmental concerns, this was impacting product development and quality assurance.
The Challenge
As a part of the growth and expansion plan at Process Displays, the leadership team sought to expand production services but recognized more machines would create more dust and further strain on their existing collector.
The Process Displays maintenance team was putting extra time and resources into filter changes and repairs. Collector filters needed to be replaced 3-4 times per year, requiring eight hours of downtime during each change-out and thousands of dollars on new bags and clean-up efforts.
There were seasonal factors to consider as well. During the winter, humidity would rise in the shop and the baghouse would freeze, stop filtering sawdust and create a fog inside for a few days. In response, the team would pull up the baghouse panels, remove the filter bags and shovel out the unit. The belts on the main drive motor also needed to be changed several times during the coldest months. After hours of manual labor and many workaround solutions, the leadership team determined a new collector was needed to meet company standards and support the strategic growth plan.
Dean Peterson, Senior Director of Operations, Process Displays
The Solution
The solution for Process Displays was a larger, more efficient dust collector with greater filtration capacity that could create a cleaner work environment, keep up with production demands and meet expansion goals.
In late 2019, Process Displays installed Donaldson’s new Torit® Rugged Pleat (RP) baghouse dust collector and immediately noticed a difference. The innovative collector is designed to capture heavy dust inherent to sawdust, plastics, aggregates, and other abrasive materials.
The RP features Donaldson’s SuperSep™ inlet, which pre-separates up to 97% of the dust before it hits the filters. The PerfectPulse™ cleaning system works directly over the filters to extend its lifespan. These features were important to the Process Displays team since the filters in their current baghouse couldn’t handle the amount of dust accumulating in the shop, requiring frequent monitoring and manual cleaning sessions.
Additionally, the RP baghouse’s Ultra-Web® Spunbond filters that are capable of providing up to 94% fewer emissions compared to baghouses with standard size polyester bags, was an attractive feature to help Process Displays lower their emissions and improve indoor air quality in the shop.
After installation, a Donaldson technician showed the Process Displays team how to operate the user-friendly RP baghouse control panel and Donaldson’s iCue™ connected filtration service. The service monitors the baghouse in real-time and is helping reduce the need for manual readings on the machines. By continuously monitoring equipment operation and putting timely performance data at the facility manager’s fingertips, iCue is helping support efficient maintenance and reducing unplanned downtime for Process Displays.
Roy Hartschen, Facilities Manager, Process Displays
The Results
By moving to Donaldson’s RP baghouse, the shop gained better air quality, improved workflow, and an opportunity to expand the production side of the business.
It also eliminated the hassle of unexpected collector troubleshooting and weekend filter changes. The aging collector’s filters needed to be replaced multiple times per year and with the new RP, the filters should last 3-4 years. To date, the RP baghouse Process Displays has been extremely pleased with the reduced maintenance requirements of the RP Baghouse.
An added benefit has been Donaldson’s iCue™ remote monitoring system, which has provided regular notifications of equipment performance levels in real-time. As a result, Process Displays has gained efficiencies and experienced less frequent workflow interruptions.
From a labor standpoint, the combination of 44% fewer filters and 50% less time to replace each filter compared to other collectors will make change-outs easier and faster for Process Displays. The RP offers significant filter time replacement savings and helps contribute to a lower total cost of ownership.
