Mighty Hook Increases CNH Industrial’s Coating Line Productivity

Material Handling Solution through new Racking Process
Leading agricultural manufacturer, Case New Holland (CNH Industrial), looked to the highly skilled and qualified engineering and manufacturing team at Mighty Hook to develop a comprehensive hanging and material handling solution to address their manufacturing processes from fabrication to assembly. Mighty Hook is known for creating engineered, tailored solutions to help customers maintain their competitive edge, increase coating line productivity, streamline assembly, and improve the manufacturing process. Mighty Hook helps companies hang, rack, and mask more efficiently and ergonomically to save time and money.

Problem
CNH Industrial was moving material from separate bins to the line, loading these parts to the line, removing parts back to the bins, and moving parts on to production, all in a manual fashion, wasting time and labor. CNH Industrial wanted to eliminate this excess work and save money. They hoped for a process where a full assembly of parts could be set up on a racking system, transported to the line, e-coated, powder coated, and moved over to assembly without overhandling. CNH Industrial took note of Mighty Hook’s success rate with customers looking for specified solutions and hoped to maintain their edge in the industry with a newly renovated assembly line process. 

Additionally, CNH Industrial wanted to use a racking process that would work for racking parts in set to create kits. They required a modular and flexible racking system that would assist in several different types of kit configurations. The challenge was to create a racking system flexible enough to set-up in fabrication and welding to maximize the amount of parts in each kit. 

Solution
CNH Industrial’s ample experience and Mighty Hook’s engineering expertise each lent itself to superior project results. CNH Industrial and Mighty Hook worked together to create “trolley” carts that would be manipulated to move around the plant. These rigid, durable, and adaptable carts were similar to a previous design CNH had used to move products, so it offered familiarity to users yet was customized to increase production. The racks that Mighty Hook designed to go on these trolley carts would be handled at the beginning of the process when they were initially hung by welding or production. From there, they are only handled once more as they are taken out for assembly. The new racks streamlined CNH Industrial’s process and eliminated additional, unnecessary handling. The racks had double-hung frames which facilitated in maximizing capacity within CNH Industrial’s two coat, autophoretic, and powder coating operation. They were designed to be functionally used on the trolley carts to hang and move product kits throughout the plants. The double hanging feature of the racks was both ergonomically proficient for assembly and offered users the capability of stacking. 

Results
The Mighty Hook rack design allowed for both modular and dedicated configuration. With a load capacity of 3000 lbs., the engineered racks were strong enough to handle a fully loaded part set and could be double hung to maximize the coating system window. The rack also incorporated proprietary crossbar attachment features that securely attached but were easy to remove, making the structural steel crossbar safe and easy to maneuver. The frame was designed to seamlessly interface with the customer’s existing caster base design (the trolley cart), allowing the racks to be easily transported throughout their manufacturing process. In conclusion, the rack design solution starts in the fabricating department (where parts are initially hung), remains on the racks through the coating process, and is not removed until final assembly.

Conclusion
The new system has substantially improved the throughput and capacity of CNH’s assembly line, and they have seen significant reduction in handling labor as it relates to moving parts from welding to assembly. Additionally, the facility’s cost savings were substantial.

Having fresh eyes on a project is invaluable to an OEM, especially when those eyes belong to  engineering professionals with coating industry specific experience. Many OEMs experience wasted labor, wasted time, or maxed out lines and space. Mighty Hook ensures that these issues are resolved and that shops save time and money with their highly specified solutions. Mighty Hook’s experienced engineering team designs and develops hanging and racking systems that maximize any coating system’s capabilities by increasing part hanging density and improving first pass transfer efficiencies, which translate into lower operating costs and higher throughput. The team goes through a multistage process to deliver the right solution for each individual customer.

Mighty Hook offers the most diverse line of US made hooks, racks, and masking solutions. They provide both standard and custom products available to easily purchase online through e-commerce.

For more information on Mighty Hook products, please visit www.mightyhook.com.