IE 430: Method For Handling Unresponsive Windrowers

Background: Case New Holland (CNH) is an agricultural equipment, construction equipment and financial services company that has its head quarters in Racine, Wisconsin. The CNH plant in Belleville, PA has had problems during the cold winter months starting their Windrower after the Windrower has been idle, sitting in storage yard, waiting to be moved to the shipping area. If a Windrower was unresponsive, it can take up to an hour for a CNH employee to both start the engine and drive the Windrower to the shipping area.

Objective: The primary goal of the project is to develop a cost efficient, damage free procedure to move the Windrower safely from the storage yard to the shipping area in less than one hour. The secondary goal of the project is to develop a system to mitigate the parking lot inventory control problems associated with building the new Windrowers to order.

Approach: To clearly identify the problem and establish baseline metrics for comparisons with project results. Next, the CNH-2 Team had to analyze the system and determine which aspects of the problem to address.

Results:

1. The trip to retrieve the windrower if it starts takes 38.5 minutes and 64.5 minutes if it does not start.

2. The use of a forklift to tow the windrower from the parking lot to the shipping area is unsafe and should not be attempted.

3. The condensation has formed within the diesel engine of the windrower diluting the diesel fuel, lowering the cetane number and increasing the time the diesel fuel takes to ignite.

4. The cost to add Premium Arctic Express Diesel Fuel Antigel to the diesel fuel in the windrower engine is 25 cents which is 14 cents more than the currently used winterized additive.

Case IH Windrower

5. The possible antigels on the market have equivalent capabilities as the winterized additive currently used.

6. The batteries, two Turbo Start Bulldozer Series batteries, within the windrower are at a weakened state 55 % of the time the windrower is to be moved when temperatures are at or below freezing level.

7. The use of a battery charger increases the charge in the battery to a level where the piston compress the air fast enough that enough heat is built up to ignite the diesel fuel.

8. The total cost of the process currently during the winter months is $23,232.99.

9. The implementation of a locating program and a portable charger will create a savings of $15,378.99 while inducing a cost of approximately $3,900.

Benefits to CNH:

1. Using a portable battery charger will reduce the walking time for a shipping employee when trying to start an unresponsive windrower.

2. The inventory control program and parking lot layout will mitigate the logistic concerns concerned with building Windrowers to order.

Recommendations:

1. Replace the current battery charger with a portable battery charger so that the battery charger can be initially transported.

2. Continue the use of the current winterized additive, Agri-Diesel 8961.

3. Implement a location program so that the exact location of all windrowers in the storage yard will be known at all times.