Production flows for hose company
March 1st 2006

In 1996, Hozelock commissioned Modular Automation to design a system that would maximise production of automatic hose connectors.

Now, nine years and 69 million connectors later, the system shows no sign of wilting in the heat of production.

The design team worked closely with Hozelock's production engineers to develop a system that could assemble plastic components and handle the parts being supplied direct from the injection moulding operations.

The final installation comprises a 40-station production line with a cycle speed of 1.8sec. For nine months of the year the line runs 24/7 and has so far produced around 69 million connectors at Hozelock's factory in Aylesbury.

Tony Ferrier, Hozelock's director of manufacturing, says "Having our people involved in the system's development right from the start means that we know the system very well.

If something goes wrong, we can usually put our finger on the problem straight away, so downtime has been kept to a minimum."

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