Topper Tube manufacturers adaptive material handling system for companies looking to support continuous improvement and lean manufacturing programs. The new division of Topper Industrial officially launched in early July 2016 and the extensive line of plastic coated steel pipes, fittings, and accessories is designed to custom build workstations, flow racks, carts, AGVs, and other material handling structures that can easily be changed again and again to match specific manufacturing needs.
Hundreds of pipes, joints, and components allow engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturers to build just about any structure imaginable. Plastic coated steel pipes come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and shapes including larger diameter pipe where additional strength is required. Metal joints provide flexibility while plastic joints offer economy for permanent structures. And a wide selection of accessories give manufacturers the ability to customize every structure.
Topper Tube provides a consultative resource beyond the sale of pipes, joints, and components helping manufacturers to develop solutions to material handling problems and increasing worker productivity. Ed Brown, founder of Topper Industrial, shared that Topper Tube is the logical extension of the Fork Truck Free environment. Topper’s sales engineers work with manufacturing team members to help support continuous improvement including lean Six Sigma and 5S programs eliminating non-value added waste.
Flow racks have a higher stocking density than conventional shelves as they can be considerably deeper. They also offer an ergonomic pick-face as the inventory is always at the front. As the inventory is moved using gravity, there is no requirement for electricity or other services to the racking.
Topper Tube is ideal for creating flexible modular gravity fed racking and flow racks have many advantages when compared with other flow rack systems. Customizable flow racks can be designed to perfectly fit inventory and functional requirements. This means that ergonomics, footprint, and other variables can be optimized.
Flow racks can be modified quickly, easily, and without special tools. This is ideal if inventory sizes or requirements change. Furthermore, flow racks can be fully integrated with other structures including workstations and assembly lines.
Flow racks can be fitted with casters so that they can be moved and lean manufacturing principles are supported as the flow racks can be continuously improved and integrated with other lean systems, including Topper Industrial carts.
Kitting flow rack systems increase productivity in lean manufacturing assembly applications. The flow rack system provides line side assemblers with continuous access to components and kitting. Fully assembled kits are ergonomically staged on top with empty containers returned to the bottom tier. This design allows for different kits or products to be staged for assembly, provides significant space savings and increased efficiency. Each unit is assembled with gravity conveyor rails made to accommodate a variety of container sizes and weights.
Topper Tube provides an excellent way to integrate gravity racking into any process. A flow racking system can dramatically improve picking efficiency, ergonomics, and inventory movement, particularly when trying to achieve lean manufacturing flow.
Article submitted by Jillian Burrow, Marketing Manager for Topper Industrial
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