Harrows Shipping Design Configuration
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Date
2016-12-07
Authors
Bolieau, Rheal
Wang, Weiran
Gray, Blayne R.
Zhou, Hanbin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Abstract
Elmer’s Manufacturing currently has two shipping methods to transport the Super 7 harrow to its
dealer network in Western Canada and North Dakota. The first method tows the harrow behind a truck
and the second loads the harrow onto a flat deck trailer. Elmer’s increasing sales require the shipping of
an increasing amount of harrows, leading to large shipping expenses. To lower the shipping expenses a
method was developed that packages two 90’ Super 7 Harrows onto a single truckload. Before
developing concepts the client’s major needs were identified, with the most important being cost and
safety.
In addition to the client needs the constraints were identified prior to the concept development
phase. The major constraints identified were the size dimensions of the trailer and load as specified by
the transportation regulation bodies in the individual regions. Size dimension constraints were
determined to be 3.8 m for width, 4.7 m for height, 27.5 m for length, and 4 m for overhang.
The final concept utilizes a B-Train trailer and packages the harrow wings on the rear trailer and the
hitches on the forward trailer. The wings are secured by six metal brackets designed from stock steel
material. The hitches are supported by wood stack brackets and the assemblies are secured to the
trailer using tie-downs. The brackets have factors of safety well above the requirement and it was
decided not to optimize the design because the reduction in cost was not equal to the decrease in safety
of the design. The added load capacity of the brackets may be important during the dynamic loading
seen during loading and transportation. In addition to the supporting brackets two pallets and two part
boxes were included for all parts omitted from the initial assembly.
A cost analysis of all three methods determined that the cheapest method for destinations outside
of Manitoba was the proposed method, with the exact savings dependant on the destination. It was
assumed the brackets would be reused and therefore analysis was performed assuming five reuses of
each bracket. For example, approximate cost savings for shipping to Lloydminster is $1044.39...