Kun-young Chiu & Associates, Inc.

FELT CHANGING DEVICE

OWENX-ILLINOIS, INC. PAPER MILL

VALDOSTA, GEORGIA

Valdosta, Georgia - For: Owens-Illinois, Inc.

"Finalist Status"
in the
Engineering Excellence Awards Program
sponsored by the American Consulting
Engineers Council, Washington, D.C.

"Grand Award"
in the
Engineering Excellence Award Program
sponsored by the Consulting
Engineers Council of Georgia.

Named by Southern Pulp & Paper
as one of the major accomplishments in its "Year in Review" publication, 1985

This project is a fine example of a client and consulting engineer working in full cooperation to achieve a common goal, i.e., increased productivity for America. It also demonstrates that engineers in industry and private practice are able to work together and compliment each other's professional capability. The felt changing device operates successfully since implementation.

Project Highlights:

The Mill's crew praised the relatively easy felt change which improved employee morale.
Damage to felt is eliminated. The device also allows the Mill to experiment with heavier felts. The end result is a reduction of the frequency of felt changes and increased productivity.
Since implementing the new device, the crew suffers no strain or injuries - potential "lost time."
The following results give evidence of the device's success.

	METHOD		%
	OLD	NEW	IMPROVEMENT
Time Requirement (Hours)	6	1	83
Crew (Men)	10	6	40
Man-Hour Required	60	6	90

Productivity potential (based on then market value) increased $475,000/year due to reduced down time.
The device is simple to operate and was economical to construct. Total cost of the device, including research and development and engineering fee, was $16,434. The device has no moving parts. There is no annual maintenance required.

OLD METHOD

NEW METHOD

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