Setting
The Standard in Process
Control
for Colour and Chemical Using Industries
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Setting
The Standard in Process
Control |
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 This resurgence comes at a time when there is a need for good dyeing and finishing capacity in Britain and it is with this impetus that Roe Acre is now addressing past problems. The modern philosophy also calls for a degree of flexibility among the work force which means that a person may well switch from one task to another. This is beneficial to all concerned as the company is better able to adjust to variations in goods being processed and the workforce itself is becoming more skilled and has a better understanding of the company's operation. One problem inherited by David Procter was that the company was dependent, virtually, on just three customers which made it extremely vulnerable. This client basis has since been greatly expanded. Other inherited problems were a somewhat sickly domestic textiles business and a limited market for polyviscose materials which today is a speciality of the company. Other changes include the introduction of internal standards. Every batch processed is monitored as it runs through the dyehouse but, before being shipped, now it is also checked for colour matching and a sample of each order is retained so that it is known exactly what treatment or dye recipe was used and when. If replication is required then it is simply a matter of repeating the earlier recipe, assuming an identical fabric is to be run. Step-by-step automation of the dyehouse is taking place and already equipment is largely automated. Eliminating weaknesses has been a prime talk, but consolidating on strengths has been a parallel improvement and here the diversity of in-house equipment was an advantage: jets, jiggers and even beam dyeing all contributed. As automation of the dyeing equipment continues this brings with it precision in processing, but to provide a link betweek the colour kitchen and the dyeing department an Ozark colour and chemical dispensing system has been installed (see the photograph on the previous web page). This sytem will enable the company to set precise colour or finishing recipes from a standard library of formulae. However, perhaps as important and possibly even more portentous, it also means that the amount of dyestuff or finishing agent will be mixed accurately according to the weight of fabric being treated. Throwing away bad mixes will be a thing of the past and, good news for local waste treatment authorities, the amounts of effluent will be significantly reduced. It is intended that the completed system will feed directly about fourteen machines in the dyehouse. The continuing investment is initially being directed towards new processing plant. To date it has resulted in the processing of polyviscose rising, in two years, from 35,000 metres/week to a current 130,000 metres/week. Also, processing now embraces such things as bi-stretch cloths incorporating elastomeric yarns. In the domestic textiles sector a wide spread of wide width fabrics are being treated, including 100% cotton, polycotton and various furnishing fabrics, many of which may be given a flourochemical finish: Scotchgard and Teflon. Today, with a new and continuously upgraded laboratory and with the introduction of electronic controls in the dyehouse together with a sophisticted, but user-friendly colour/ chemical compounding plant, the company is poised for its next step. Plant and processes re now being modernised and/or replaced and it is possible for the company to turn its attention to the somewhat less immediate matter of new buildings, but this is a site with immense potential and with the enthusiasm of younder moden professional management, the prospects for further advancement are brighter than they have been for at least the past two decades.
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