Protection in the cupboard

On the one hand, this takes up valuable working time, but is also associated with high material costs. Consumption and stock levels of PPE cannot be tracked centrally and each department has to reorder items manually. The organization and provision of important protective equipment was therefore time-consuming and could not be ensured smoothly.

Load cell machines for PSA management

A solution was needed - and with it, PSA dispensers from Hahn+Kolb. With the new load cell dispensers, employees can simply open the cabinet and remove items without having to book them manually. They can even handle several different products at once. The cabinets record the stock of each individual storage compartment using the load cells, automatically calculate the quantities removed using the weight difference and post the removals centrally. This revolutionizes PSA dispensing - long and cumbersome administration and booking processes are completely eliminated. The Hahn+Kolb solution therefore saves the department managers at Innomotics several hours a week. No code is required to access the locker. Employees can use RFID chip cards, at Innomotics these are even the existing punch cards. Access rights can be precisely regulated with the cards via user registration: Who is allowed to remove which items from the cabinets at what time can be set up. The quantity of products removed can be checked.

"The machines are a linchpin in the company, because we can't work without cut-resistant gloves in production or protective suits in the paint shop," says Michael Löwel, process technologist at Innomotics. "It was important to us to guarantee a reliable supply of PPE items and at the same time relieve our foremen of the time-consuming administrative task. We quickly achieved this effect with the PPE dispensing machines."

Automation saves costs

Innomotics initially purchased four cabinets, which have been saving time in the production, assembly and paint shop for three years. Now the issuing and administration of the important protective articles are no longer a waste of resources. The quantity of PPE products used and their procurement costs have even fallen by around a third, as manual dispensing often leads to unnecessary over-issues. "Sometimes too many PPE items were retrieved, or errors were made when storing or issuing them," recalls Michael Löwel. With the current system, items are issued to the respective employees on a personalized basis, which leads to better self-monitoring. Thanks to real-time monitoring of the stock in the cupboards, the vending machines also recognize when the stock falls below previously defined minimum quantities and automatically trigger reorders. This means that items are available around the clock.