Products | Side by Side

Side By Side Systems

The Company: General Motors Canada, Oshawa, Ontario

The Line: production line for the Pontiac Grand Prix, product Rear Spoiler

The Situation: The model change to accommodate the Grand Prix provided GM with the opportunity to upgrade their lineside equipment.

Our Track Record: General Motors is familiar with Mainway equipment and has used it in various other applications within this facility.

The Challenges:

1. Ergonomics, the product is contained within shipping racks and was required to be at an elevation suitable to be picked by an operator working without the aid of an elevated platform.
2. Reliability, the product is supplied in a JIT situation and therefore down time is not an option during production
3. Confined space at the line side
4. Provide equipment durable enough to withstand the abuse from fork lift loading and unloading

The Solution:

1. Mainway supplied a Side by Side pallet exchange system. The system incorporated two lanes of Chain Driven Live Roller Conveyor with a Two Strand Chain Transfer to shuttle product from one lane to the other. The Two Strand Chain Transfer is raised from below the rollers using pneumatics.
2. Mainway incorporated the conveyor supports, protective fencing and product guides into a single structure to ensure minimal lineside space was required. This structure was made from welded structural members and to prevent fork truck damage to the conveyor endstops were made from ¾” thick plate steel.
3. To address the issue of Ergonomic pick heights Mainway designed a custom chain transfer unit that resulted in a 12” top of roller height. This enabled the product to be picked from the shipping rack without the addition of an elevated platform at the assembly line.

The Results : Mainway supplied a reliable, ergonomically friendly robust automotive Side by Side conveying system and continues to be supplier of lineside equipment to General Motors.