After all, waiting around for replacement parts by mail is not what they bargained for when they plunked down their money. Revel/Monogram of Morton Grove, IL, the leading U.S. maker of scale models, has reduced the likelihood of an incomplete kit reaching a customer by installing an in-line Ishida checkweigher from Heat and Control (Hayward, CA). Running since January '97, the instrument sits a short distance downstream from the machine that applies lids to cartons. The cartons travel over the scale's conveyor belt, beneath which is a load cell to detect any carton deviating ±3 g. Faulty cartons are automatically kicked into a reject bin. "It also detects short shots," says vice president of manufacturing Jim Foster. "So if the bucket seat of a car, for instance, didn't get completely formed during the injection molding process and consequently weighs less than it should, the carton it's in will be detected and rejected." Revel/Monogram keeps the checkweigher busy. The Morton Grove plant molds 'round the clock and packages two shifts/day, churning out nearly 55ê¯ kits. So far only one of three packaging lines includes a scale. But that will change this summer as the packaging operation at Revel/Monogram gets a complete makeover and at least one more checkweigher is added.
