Why Are My Vibratory Process Cycle Times Dragging?
Many of our customers have noticed a significant increase in their vibratory process cycle times, sometimes even doubling or tripling what they were previously accustomed to. So what’s the deal?

To better understand what’s going on, we like to follow a checklist of questions to help us get to the bottom of these extra lengthy cycle times. To start, we review the process; confirming that there have been no recent changes since initial inception. Even small adjustments to media or compounds, like altering the compound-to-water ratio, flow rate, or media type, shape, size, or condition, can have a significant impact.

Once we’re able to rule out process adjustments as the problem, we consider the parts themselves. Are there variations in their starting points, dirtiness, burring, or surface conditions? Is there inconsistency from part to part or batch to batch? Irregularities here can also disrupt the process and significantly influence your cycle time. 

If we find there to be no alterations to equipment, processes, or parts found, we’ll need to take another look at our initial concern: Low media levels.

Low Media Levels: A Common Culprit in Vibratory Process Inefficiency
One of the most frequent issues we encounter when troubleshooting vibratory processes is inadequate media levels. This often stems from a lack of clear standard operating procedures and oversight, leading to shortcuts that prioritize ease of operation over optimal performance.
When operators need to manually load and unload parts, they may find it more convenient to work with lower media levels, as it can make it faster and easier to locate and extract the parts, especially in large vibratory bowls or tubs.

However, reducing media levels compromises process efficiency by decreasing the number of parts that can be processed per batch, as well as limiting the machine’s ability to effectively roll parts through the media mass, resulting in suboptimal results.