Last week, I visited the workshop of old customer Director Li. The moment I opened the door, I didn't dare to recognize it. The packaging workshop that looked like a sauna at this time last year was now filled with a hint of cool air. The brand-new fully automatic cold seal packaging machine on the assembly line is quietly swallowing and spitting out products, and several operators are wearing dry work clothes and recording data in front of the control screen. This scene reminds me of the urgent call for help last summer.
"Brother, the workshop thermometer is off the charts again!" Last August, Director Li was so anxious that his voice was hoarse on the phone. Their workshop for puffed food maintains high temperatures all year round, and the traditional heat seal machine is even more fuel to the fire when it is working. Workers took turns pouring cold water on themselves, but the packaging bags always leaked due to thermal expansion and contraction. At that time, our technical department held a "cooling battle meeting" overnight and decided to use the fully automatic cold-sealing packaging machine that had been developed for two years.
Speaking of this cold-sealing technology, it is really like turning on a central air conditioner for the workshop. Traditional heat sealing requires high-temperature fusion, but we use special cold-sealing strips instead, which can complete the sealing at room temperature. On the day of installation, Lao Zhou, the workshop director who had worked for 20 years, squatted in front of the equipment for a long time and suddenly slapped his thigh: "Isn't this just installing a refrigerator for the packaging line!"
The changes in the production line after the transformation are visible to the naked eye: the workstations that originally required three people to be on duty now only require occasional inspections; the observation window that was once blurred by steam can now clearly see the packaging bags lined up in an orderly manner. What makes the workers happiest is that they have said goodbye to the hot operating table and will no longer have hot melt glue embedded in the nails.
When I went to inspect at the end of last month, I met Xiao Wu, an operator who was changing shifts. The young man pulled me to a corner mysteriously, took out his mobile phone to show his exercise steps: "I used to walk 30,000 steps in the workshop every day, but now I can't even reach 10,000." Although it was a joke, it really reflects the change in labor intensity. Director Li is even better at accounting: "The electricity bill has dropped by 30%, but the product qualification rate has increased. This deal is worth it!"
What makes our technical team proud is the "smart temper" of the cold sealing machine. Once the workshop suddenly tripped, and after restarting, the equipment automatically identified the packaging progress before the power outage, and accurately sent the semi-finished products back to the assembly line like an old accountant checking the account book. This error-proofing design is a unique skill that we figured out after squatting on more than a dozen fault sites.
Now when I go to the customer's workshop, I often see the old master and the new apprentice "finding the difference" in front of the cold sealing machine. I once heard the master say: "In the past, we competed to see who could withstand high temperatures, but now we compete to see who can understand the mind of this iron guy better." This makes sense. The intelligent packaging system is like a living thing that can breathe. The more you think about it, the more thoughtful designs you can find - for example, the automatically adjusted feeding rhythm can avoid peak electricity consumption, and the wavy guide groove allows the packaging bags to take fewer "wrong roads".
Recently, the industry has been swept by the trend of cooling transformation, and our factory's phone is almost blown up by the consultation hotline. Yesterday, the inspection team from Hunan was just sent off. The leading boss touched the cool seal and smacked his lips: "This cold sealing machine does not sweat when working, but it makes us sweat anxiously - we are afraid that we will not be able to order goods if we come late!"
Standing in the renovated workshop, looking at the production data jumping on the electronic screen, I suddenly remembered the sigh of the master Lao Zhou when installing the machine: "The days of using cattail fans to cool the equipment have finally come to an end!" Isn't this the echo that we want to hear most when doing equipment research and development?
