Dispensing advice
August 1st 2009 The dispensing system you choose for your wipers can have a major impact on
productivity. Mark Riley of SCA Tissue Europe looks at centrefeed systems, clean-cut
wipers,wall-mounted boxes and loose wiper rolls to help you find the right solution
for your premises
In some ways it can be harder to find the right dispensing system
for your industrial wipers than it is to choose the wipers
themselves.The wiper merely needs to be up to the task in hand:
for example, if you require a product that is tough enough to carry
out cleaning tasks with solvents you will need a heavy-duty nonwoven
wiper, whereas a soft, low-linting wiper will be required for
delicate wiping tasks and so on.
Your wiper supplier will help you select the right product for the
application in question. But choosing a dispensing system may be
less straightforward since a whole
spectrum of factors need to be
taken into account.These will
include the size and layout of your
premises, the number of staff, risk
of contamination and pilferage.
Many industrial managers fail to
see the point of a dispensing
system at all and will select what
they feel to be the cheapest, most
convenient option – which is a
loose wiping roll.This can be
carried from workstation to
workstation and will always be on
hand wherever it is needed.
Look out loose roll about
However, loose rolls are not always
as economical as you might think.
As the name implies, they have a
tendency to roll off work surfaces and on to the floor where they will
become contaminated. If the atmosphere is particularly dusty or
humid, the loose roll may even become contaminated while on the
work surface since there is no dispenser to protect it. Loose rolls can
easily be pilfered, too, and the ends of rolls may be discarded and
wasted.
In a large factory where pilferage is a problem, a good alternative
to the loose roll is a fixed floorstand in a central location containing a
giant wiper roll.This works well in premises where operatives work
closely together and are all carrying out similar tasks.
But a giant roll may not be the right solution in an environment
where there is dust, sawdust or humidity in the atmosphere since, like
the loose roll, it will offer no protection. If the premises are
particularly large, one centrally-placed roll will involve a great deal of
walking to and from the wiper supply on the part of the staff, which
will have an adverse affect on productivity.
And where specialist cleaning tasks are taking place alongside dayto-
day wiping applications, one general-purpose roll will not be a
good solution since staff may use it erroneously where a more
delicate, lower-linting or tougher wiper would have been a more
effective choice.
In such situations it can be more cost-effective to fit wall-mounted
wiper dispensers at strategic points around the workshop to cater for
different wiping tasks.The Tork range includes a wall-mounted
dispenser that accommodates compact packs containing up to 150
clean-cut Tork wipers that are plastic-wrapped to guard against
contamination.
A wide range of Tork wipers for polishing, pre-cleaning, wiping and
cleaning with solvents are available in a wall-mounted format to
ensure that every operative has the right wiper to hand.
Where a higher-capacity solution
is required, the Tork Combi roll
system may be the answer.This
consists of a long-lasting wiper roll
housed in a plastic dispenser that
protects the product from
contamination and is also lockable.
The Tork Combi roll allows
operatives to pull out long sections
of wiper roll at a time,making the
system particularly suitable for
general-purpose tasks such as
hand wiping and mopping up
spills.
Carry on wiping
One obvious attraction of loose
wiping rolls is the fact that they are
portable. But better portable
systems are available that protect
the wipers from spoilage when carried around from workstation to
workstation or in the back of a van.
The Tork Handy Box has a convenient carry-handle and contains
up to 300 clean cut wipers that are protected from dust and dirt.
Where relatively small numbers of high quality wipers are needed,
Tork now offers compact packs of Tork Premium 530, 520 and 510
non-woven cloths.The plastic-wrapped packs contain up to 55
wipers and are aimed at mobile engineers and smaller workstations
where there is insufficient space for a wall-mounted dispenser.
Mobile mechanics may not want to transport cleaning fluids
around in their vans for reasons of safety and space. In this case, premoistened
wipes such as Tork surface cleaning wet wipes may be the
answer.These are conveniently housed in a plastic bucket with a
carry handle.
Cost will always be a key consideration when choosing industrial
wipers, but there is no point choosing a low-cost dispensing system if
it leads to waste, over-consumption, spoiled wipers or pilferage.
When choosing your wiping system, ask your supplier to help you
choose the dispenser as well since this could make a huge difference
to your bottom line. Please contact
the company for details. More articles from SCA Tissue Europe: | 
