Philippines-Fabricated Rotary Filling Machine 188.0

This hardy Filipino-fabricated machine is cause for cheer

I could hardly contain my excitement at seeing a Filipino-fabricated rotary filler being set up yesterday – a working product from the minuscule Philippine machinery industry is on the ground before me!

YAY! as my young friends shout. And LOL with that.

Fighting against economic policies like on foreign exchange and on inflation that are biased for consumption over production, spending over saving, trade over industry, city versus farm, exporting talent over keeping them employed locally – my excitement was more for the individual, hardy engineer-entrepreneur who managed to survive and thrive despite the odds against him.

And the rotary filling machine was made and sold at a lower price than a comparable China-made one.

Eternal hope and a vision to work for. For me, machinery manufacturing is exciting because we have so few engaged in it. In the post-industrial world, the equivalent to steel mills are machine tool factories, semiconductor foundries, software development campuses and the like.

We must elect leaders who support innovation policies in the mode of pluralist Denmark, Israel and New Zealand as in a previous post.

For me, hope springs eternal that that we can develop innovation workshops in niches that can be global leaders.

Machines with STI-Learning is the Bedrock of Innovation. The rotary filling machine design itself is probably available from a book or copied from an existing machine. Yet, there are many other things to celebrate.

In its own way, the ability to make machinery is the best indication of the capacity for DUI-learning, i.e. from doing-using-interacting.

With the availability of its fraternal twin STI-learning – from the science-and technology infrastructure, DUI-learning fosters true innovation.

DUI-learning and STI-learning, interacting continuously according to Bengt Ake Lundvall is the true model of innovation from learning.

The client company here procures its STI-learning using a combination of basic knowledge from the Universities and creative use of scan-adapt-diffuse technologies by partnering with select suppliers for key ingredient technologies.

For the engineer-entrepreneur who made the machine, it shows that the time honored method of reverse engineering that Japan, Korea and the NIEs in the 1980s used to clamber up the ladder as emerging markets/ Reverse engineering – what Professor Patarapong Intarakumnerd calls intensive learning – is alive and well in important pockets in the Philippines

The Rotary Filling Machine. Here are some key features of the machine itself.

The machine turns clockwise.  At the foreground, is the automatic package feeder.

At the background are two filling heads: one for bulk fill and the other smaller one is for top up; the first is volumetric the second is by weight.

The rotary table holds eight packs at a time so it must rotate 4.5 times per minute at rated capacity. This implies the top up weighing machine must be precise as it has less than two seconds to do its task.

To the right is the sealer and then the finish conveyor.  Optionally, a date code printer can be linked to this conveyor.

Capacity. The rotary machine can fill 36 packs of up to 800 g per minute and its handling jaws can hold down to smaller 250 g packs at slightly faster 40 packs per minute.

Technology. The technology is designed to be accessible to users and maintenance staff.

Some components are purchased complete like the electronic controller.

It is also designed, with high-acid stainless steel components, to be easily cleaned with not visible but clear drains for wash water.

The workmanship is not bad as evidenced by precise assembly, bunch pneumatic tubes and clean finish.

This rotary filler is a basic rough-and-ready process machine designed to be accessible by local maintenance knowhow.

Flexibility. This auto-filler replaces a manual filling station with six heads that was attached continuously to the upstream food processors. The timing and temperatures within the process, as well as product pH and ingredients, are designed for integrity as to food safety.

With faster throughput from automation, the engineering and coordination challenges have dramatically increased.

The manual filling head will now reside in a different, smaller capacity custom business. Overall, the flexibility from modularity is maintained.

Note: I have fond memories of Dean Gaston Ortigas of AIM, who taught me in Advanced Operations Management twenty-two years ago, the use of Capacity-Technology-Flexibility that I used above as the most basic model for evaluating an Operation. Here. I used it for a machine. It can also be used for an operating system, say for the AES or automated elections system.

Automation and Machine Tool Knowhow. Other than the ability to put an automated system together, some metalworking and automation knowhow is visible: spin forming, stainless steel welding, electroplating (nickel and chrome), pneumatic and controls, precision and automation design, precision assembly.

The Whole Processing System. The rotary filler itself is just the business end of a balanced and closed system that includes steam jacketed kettles, redundant warmer holding vessels, and automated clean-in-place (CIP) system. The system itself was set up for locally developed products and long-time successful brands that have grown to justify some automation.

The design of the system included more spending on pipes and pumps to consolidate controls and exhausts in easy-to-maintain pods – again great engineering – adapted from much bigger automated systems.

I have seen this system scale-up modularly through to this first stage system automation with patient, locally available learning and knowhow.

It helps that the business volume now justifies this incremental investment.

Cause for celebration. I celebrate more the engineering ability to put a machine system together using locally available knowledge of basic metal-forming processes.

It helped that the customer has a strong internal engineering group and a bias for in-house design and fabrication of its production machines.

Note: It may warm a few people’s heart to know this engineering team is solidly from the University of the Philippines.

Last words. Having smelt the flowers, as my favorite cousin advised, experiences like these show me that we can accomplish great things even just with a more level playing field.  The success of our telecommunications industry – from 1997 when President Ramos opened the sector to competition – shows that Filipinos will compete if forced to do so with political will.  Talent and merit will emerge.

Like with Apolinario Mabini for good politics who happened and was real, we can accomplish in the economy what we see here happen if our entrepreneurs and professionals are given the just some opportunity for innovative entrepreneurship.

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