Do Material-Handling Systems Really Save Money?

The character of the board industry is changing. The days of the wet process area being called "The Swamp" are coming to a close. We no longer see the frantic pace of process improvements that existed three years ago. This will necessitate a change in the types of projects board engineers work on. In this paper, one aspect of a new board operation installed in Puerto Rico will be discussed. That aspect is a material-handling system. The following questions will be dealt with: 1) Why we decided to db it, 2) What it looks like, and 3) How it is working-Is it saving money.