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Safety
7 min
Designing safety zones people will not bypass
If a guard slows the job, someone will defeat it. Good safety design starts at the operator's workflow, not at the fence.
Bypassed guards are design feedback
A taped-over sensor is a symptom. The cell asked the operator to do something slower than the job allows.
Zones instead of walls
Scanners and safe speed monitoring let a robot slow down as a person approaches and stop only when it must. Loading stays fast; risk stays low.
- Walk the task with the operator before drawing the fence
- Size zones from measured approach speeds
- Validate every function and keep the report with the machine
Paperwork that helps
A clear risk assessment is the best manual the next engineer will ever get.
Keep reading
More field notes.
Data & OEE
OEE is a product, not an average
Availability, performance and quality multiply. Three good-looking numbers can still hide a line that loses a fifth of its time.
Retrofit
Retrofit or replace? A five-question test
Most old machines have good iron and tired brains. Five questions tell you whether new controls will give you another fifteen years.
Controls
Ladder logic still has a place
Structured text is powerful. But at three in the morning, the maintenance technician reads rungs, not functions.