Stop Using Skilled Labour for Jobs a Machine Can Do

Finding and keeping production workers remains a real challenge for precast concrete plants.

Just three days ago, the National Precast Concrete Association highlighted how producers are increasingly turning to automation to ease labour gaps, improve consistency and keep production moving.

But automation doesn't always have to mean robots or a completely new production line.

Sometimes it starts with eliminating one repetitive job.

Mixer cleaning is a good example. Manual cleaning consumes operator time, takes equipment out of production and places employees around equipment where automation can potentially do much of the work instead.

More mixing. Less cleaning.

Automatic mixer cleaning systems can reduce the time employees spend cleaning twin-shaft, planetary and single-shaft mixers.

That matters because the objective isn't simply to save a few minutes of cleaning. It's to make better use of the people you already have.

Recent NPCA examples show producers applying automation specifically to repetitive and physically demanding tasks while keeping employees focused on work requiring judgment and experience.

At Bourdin Industrial, we supply WALTER automatic cleaning systems for concrete production equipment, including retrofit applications.

If cleaning your mixer is consuming too much production or maintenance time, it may be worth looking at what can be automated.

In today's labour market, the question isn't only “How fast can we clean the mixer?”

It's “Is this really where we want our people spending their time?”