{"id":9433,"date":"2024-03-15T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/?p=9433"},"modified":"2024-03-19T13:43:58","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T12:43:58","slug":"from-20-to-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/2024\/03\/from-20-to-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"From 20 to Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Professional Association of the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry has paid tribute to the Freudenberg \u00adSealing Technologies (FST) plant at Reichelsheim, nominating it for the \u201cJob Safety Wins!\u201d award. At a private exhibition scheduled for September at Hannover-Langenhagen, the nominated companies will be presenting their projects to a jury. The winner will get a 12,000 euro prize. In all, 21,000 euros in prize money will be awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NC lathes are used in the PTFE Business Unit of the Lead Center Special Sealing Automotive in Reichelsheim for processing PTFE tubes internally and externally and for parting rings. \u201cThe latter involves the use of a scalpel-like knife that is very sharp and pointed. When the operators convert or clean the machine or change tools, they don\u2019t have much room to work. There is the danger that the knives will cut their fingers, hands or forearms accidentally, causing injuries,\u201d said Goran Odobasic, Manager, PTFE Business Unit. These cuts are sometimes deep and almost always require a visit to a physician or hospital. They often require stitches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the problem first occured, the Reichelsheim team has gone all out to protect employees. \u201cFor starters, we have cut-resistant safety gloves, of course, for the employees to wear when they work on an open machine. But the knives are so sharp that they can cut through gloves, even those with the highest protective rating,\u201d said Felix Halter, who is in charge of Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) at the Reichelsheim plant. \u201cThe next attempt was a magnetic cover. This was certainly a more stable option, but the knives still cut through the material and broke when they came into contact with the cover.\u201d So these measures were insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Creative minds in \u00adReichelsheim (from left): Felix Halter, \u00adGoran Odobasic, Uwe Franzmathes and Sergej Schmidt.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The plastic protective covers, which are tailored to the various knife holders, can be installed and removed easily.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A 3D Printer Helps Out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The solution came from a brainstorming session that Process Technician Uwe Franzmathes, Production Technician Sergej Schmidt, Halter and Odobasic attended. It was a plastic protective piece adapted precisely to the various knife holders. It is easy to put on and remove. \u201cThis completely covers the blade, allowing employees to clean the machines or replace parts or cutting steels without the risk of injury,\u201d Franzmathes said. The plastic\u2019s red color is easily visible and sends the important message that it has to be removed before the machine is started up. If this is overlooked, only the cover is \u00adbroken, not the tool or the machine, unlike its magnetic predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another plus: Schmidt created a CAD design that was used to print out the different plastic covers with a special 3D printer when, for example, one of them breaks and has to be replaced. \u201cIt took eight to nine hours to print one of the larger covers. For the smaller ones, we were able to produce 10 units at a time,\u201d he said. There is also good news on the sustainability front: The plastic used for the covers can be easily recycled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another consideration is its overall effect. Since the new safeguard has been in use, there hasn\u2019t been a single cut injury in the PTFE Business Unit. The previous total was about 20 per year, causing a few injury-related lost workdays. Thus, within the full meaning of the Freudenberg Guiding Principles, both the company and employees benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Professional Association of the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry has nominated the project for its \u201cJob Safety Wins!\u201d award. At a private exhibition in Hannover in September, the Reichelsheim team will present its results to a jury. For now, these innovators will be crossing their fingers and hoping to win the main prize of 12,000 euros. But they have already gained something important: zero cut injuries.<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n <\/i>\r\n <\/a>\r\n <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Professional Association of the Raw Materials and Chemical Industry has paid tribute to the Freudenberg \u00adSealing Technologies (FST) plant at Reichelsheim, nominating it for the \u201cJob Safety Wins!\u201d award.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9162,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,649,319],"tags":[632],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"class_list":["post-9433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corporate-social-responsibility-en","category-job-safety","category-reichelsheim-en","tag-edition-02_2024-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9441,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9433\/revisions\/9441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9433"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sw.fst.com\/magazine\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=9433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}