The Lexington Herald-Leader uses a conveyor system called a WHizlift to carry newspaper bundles from an upstairs mailroom to a ground floor truck-loading area. This system has prevented newspaper damage at our plant and eliminated the need for one position on a weekly shift.
We used to use a spiral, gravity-fed chute. As you can imagine, packages were practically flying by the time they reached the bottom. The paper would get torn up as it came down the chute, and the bundles often would break open when they hit the truck loader.
The expense of all those broken and damaged bundles was substantial. We were building many extras just to make sure we'd have enough.
Since then, we've installed one WHizlift for each of our two presses. Made by W & H Systems Inc. of Carlstadt, N.J., the WHizlift is commonly used to convey packages in post offices and department stores, and luggage in airports.
The WHizlift consists of two conveyor belts running in parallel. The outside belt expands to the size of the bundle, forming a protective "cocoon" around it. The outside belt is covered with elastic cords that run horizontally. They are like giant rubber bands. The cords are spaced about six inches apart, so there's three or four cords holding each bundle in place on the way down.
The biggest advantage of the WHizlift is that practically no bundles break open, and damage is almost nonexistent. Back when we used the metal chute, someone had to grab each bundle, turn it sideways and send it to another tying machine. The WHizlift eliminated the need for that position, and we're saving wear and tear on one tying machine as well. Finally, since the bundles come down a lot slower in the WHizlift, tracking and counting them is a lot easier.
The biggest drawback is that the elastic cords frequently break. We go over the machine twice a week to replace any that are broken or look like they're about to give out. We've also had problems with angle brackets that hold metal hooks in place---they wear out fairly easily. We make new brackets in our own machine shop and replace them as needed.
But the benefits of this conveyor system far outweigh its cost. I think it would be useful for other plants that need to move bundles from the third or fourth floor down to ground level.
Joel Allen is mailroom manager for the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader. Phone is (606) 231-3367.
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