What’s the Operating Cost of a Fully Automatic Sorting Machine?

In the fast-moving world of manufacturing, battery sorting machines are an important tool to improve production speed. A factory processing large amounts of battery cells, be it lithium-ion, prismatic or pouch cell technology, would be best served by a fully automatic sorting machine, but until one has some estimate of the operating costs of such a machine, one cannot make a well informed investing decision.
Factors affecting the operating costs of automatic sorting machines
Causitive factors for the yearly costs of a fully automatic sorting machine are varied, and we kind of feel that some of these have been glossed over a bit too lightly by some people who do not know any better. In a nutshell:These people are all kind of right, but to varying degrees:
1. Upfront price and depreciation
Another capital cost is the price of the sorting machine itself, and it has a wide range. It merely depends on what it’s sorting, how much you want sorted, does it sort 18650’s, or 21700’s or dot pouch cells, what’s it worth? In other cases it may shred, pulverize, and extract precious metals in addition to sorting. In this way you add a whole “back-end” of tricky gear. But, in particular for sorting, surely there can only be so many, and the trade off must be in energy or environmental return. And surely there can only be so many variables. Ok we cannot BS all day, it depends on productivity. Of course. Newer models will have a shorter payback time but then we have new problems like productivity and output ratio. Depreciation is included, and surely it must come real fast, but in any project only if one divides the end of year book value by the productivity.Cost of energy. To present an estimate of the cost of energy to operate, it will be necessary to take into account the voltage and current rating of the machine as well as the total time that it is working each day. Thus a fully automatic sorting machine may run for several hours per day, depending on the production scheduling that is used. Suitable energy-efficient models will save in this cost, and using the machines wisely will effect further savings in the future.
3. Maintenance and repairs
These also figure in operating costs. Routine maintenance is necessary to keep sorting machines working for an anticipated length of time without trouble. Although the active parts of automatic sorting machines are so arranged that they will do their work for long stretches without difficulty, there is still some judgment required to prevent a breakdown of the machine in the middle of the sorting run. Maintenance will include cleaning, and lubricating moving parts, and rigorous checking of probable trouble spots for signs of wear.
Repair may be required when wear gets the best of the machine. If parts of the machine are designed to use only a particular special part that is not easy to find, the cost of downtime may be prohibitive.
4. Cost of labors
Although fully automatic sorting machines demand only infrequent human attention, a certain amount is required, of course, to check up on them, to keep them in adjustment, and to set them up to do a job. Similarly, the cost of labor will vary with geographical area and the type skills of the employees. Some companies will wish to keep on hand an expert mechanic trained to work on sorting machines.· Effects of Automation on Labor Requirements
The more automated a sorting machine is, the less labor its operation requires, and there can be quite a difference in the degree of automation between two machines appearing fairly similar. A fully-automatic machine requiring little manual intervention may be appreciably less expensive in the labor which it needs than one which is semi-automatic.
5. Materials Handling and Waste
Another cost, the loading of the material and reloading it after sorting is done, needs to be considered also. Several of the sorting machines for batteries, for example, require that the cells be loaded by means of a feeder machine into the sorting machine, and then cells or sorted batteriesthe finalsif they will becall be moved by a conveyor from the sorting machine to the next place in the production line. This use of another machine is another cost of operation. And even the waste needs to be looked at. Waste batteries that are sorted out and which go down as spent are an extra cost as well, although if regarded as waste they need to be minimized.
6. Software and Calibration Costs
Particularly for those of the fully automatic machines that depend primarily on software for operating, monitoring, and calibrating, there will be some cost in downloading of the software and ascertaining that the machine is calibrated properly. Although of course the cost of software can’t equal that of hardware, still it is a cost of operation that can’t be neglected in working up the total cost.
7. Consumables and Spare Parts
Again, in due course, a number of items perhaps need to be replacedfilters and sensors, etc. While again, this will normally be a cost on the high side as opposed to hardware changes, it is yet a cost adding to the total overall cost of the operating of the machine, and should be included in ascertaining the cost particularly in consideration of a time factorthat the use of and payments on the machine itself, and for labor using it, of course isn’t income. How to Keep the Operating Equipment Costs to a Minimum
Although considering these various factors, the costs of the cost of operating the sort of automatic machine sorting apparatus can be appreciably reduced, there are some steps that it is fruitful for a business to take to assure cost of consistent operation of a machine for sorting.
Energy Efficient Machines – In selecting the sort of machine, choose one which is designed to optimize energy consumption on one hand and performance on the other.
Preventive Maintenance – Along those same lines, a judicious schedule provisioning for preventative maintenance can be timely in reducing both the repair cost and the down time of the machine while it is being repaired.
More Intelligent Operators – Cutting the human factor out in that fashion likewise serves. More intelligent operators, or at least more intensively trained operators, can work the machines with greater efficiency.
Production Schedule – With that in mind, be sure to run the machine when it will show up at peak efficiency, and do not allow it to be idle without its making an earnings.
It all boils down to this.
The cost of the operation of a plant having a fully automatic sorting machine depends on the variable factors discussedherethe manpower cost, how much energy is utilized, maintenance, when it runs, etc. Through familiarization with the elements involved, it is the hope of the user to be able to apply the considerations involved to minimize his use of and handling of the adjusting of automatic sorting equipment. And in that connection, take it all into consideration properly, choosing the proper units to effect a fine result, and thus keep the costs in line!Finito!