Pneumatic Tube System

As integrated circuit geometry continues to shrink, the cost to support production equipment is growing. In order to realize a timely return on capital equipment investment, maximizing equipment utilization is becoming more critical than ever. One of the most timely issues in repairing a piece of equipment is obtaining parts from the stores area.

Texas Instruments had the problem of needing to quickly deliver critical production equipment parts to point of use areas throughout a large facility. The alternatives were limited and the first resolve was to utilize manual labor. Parts were manually transported from centralized storage areas to point of use areas within production. Because of the large size of this facility, multiple stores areas were utilized and strategically located to minimize walking distances and delivery times.

The labor requirements for parts delivery were at times intensive, as production equipment downtime was costly. Sufficient staffing had to be maintained 24 hours per day, seven days per week to respond to parts delivery needs. Even with substantial staffing, the mean time to repair production equipment was viewed as a constant area for improvement. Also, much of the inventory in the multiple stores areas was redundant, thus increasing overhead costs. An expansion of this facility and the need for yet another stores area highlighted the problems related to parts delivery.

Any automated solution to this problem had to deliver parts quickly over very long distances; deliver between stores and many different point-of-use areas; reduce parts delivery staffing requirements; and eliminate redundant inventories. The solution had to be able to transport delicate items, such as printed circuit boards and light bulbs, as well as heavy items weighing up to 20 pounds. Further compounding the problem was that this facility consisted of multiple utilities congested buildings separated by distances up to 1500'.

Texas Instruments teamed with Swisslog Translogic to develop and implement a solution. The solution chosen was Translogic's Airco computerized pneumatic tube system. Translogic offers pneumatic tube systems with tubing diameters up to 10" and carrying capacities up to 25 pounds.

PROBLEM
Manual delivery of critical production equipment parts throughout a large multi-building complex.
• Long delivery times (+ 20 min.)
• Redundant inventories strategically located to reduce delivery times
• Cost related to manual transport

SOLUTION
Texas Instruments chose the Translogic 8" Airco pneumatic tube system for the following reasons:
• Payload capacity to accommodate 80% of parts orders
• Safely transports even delicate items at speeds up to 1500 ft/min.
• Tubing routed above ceilings and outdoors on existing pipe racks
• Thirteen send and receive stations located in storerooms and in semi-clean point of use areas
• Easy to use keypad entry and computer control ensure carriers reach destination and provide an audit trail

JUSTIFICATION
• Less than 14 month ROI
• Reduced parts delivery times from over 20 min. to under 6 min.(average)
• Improved equipment efficiencies and production capacity
• Reduced manual delivery efforts and redundant stores staffing by the equivalent of 23 full-time persons
• Consolidated store rooms and eliminated redundant inventories

Texas Instruments chose Translogic's 8" diameter tube system as it had the capacity to transport roughly 80% of their parts orders. The provided system is able to safely transport delicate items at speeds up to 25 feet per second.

Due to the flexibility of the system, tubing was able to be located indoors in overhead interstitial space and outdoors on existing pipe racks.

Send and receive stations deliver parts to point-of-use drop zones accessible to smocked clean room technicians, saving dress-out time for hundreds of deliveries per day. Stores personnel choose the destination station via a keypad entry, pneumatics transport the carriers with materials, and computer control ensures the carriers reach their destination. Using clean room access drop zones presented a significant challenge in the management of tube intake and exhaust airflow. The knowledge that Translogic has acquired through manufacturing pneumatic tube systems since 1915 assisted in addressing implementation challenge.

With this system consisting of 13 send and receive areas and thousands of feet of tubing, Texas Instruments was able to consolidate stores, eliminate redundant stores staffing, eliminate redundant inventories, improve parts delivery times and reduce manual transport efforts.

Point of use parts delivery cycle times were reduced from 20 minutes to less than 6 minutes. Based primarily on labor savings the return on investment is estimated at 13.5 months. The modularity and flexibility of the system lends itself well for the already planned expansion.

Swisslog Translogic, 10825 East 47th Avenue, Denver, CO 80239. Tel: 800-525-1841; Fax: 303-373-7932.