1
What is Bale Stacking?
Staple fibers
are low density materials and need to be compressed in bales form to transport
from one place to other. Fibers are compressed to bales of a specific length,
width, height and density in ginning factory and then transported to spinning
mills. Spinning mills buy cotton bales according to their annual requirement
during the season and store them in warehouses and godowns. These bales are
stacked on one another in godowns and dispatched during the whole year
according to requirements. This is called Bale Stacking.
2
Bale Stacking Stability
At most sites,
bales are held in a warehouse or similar storage area, waiting for process or
dispatch. The main safety objective in
the storage area is to maintain safe and stable stacks, so bales do not fall.
Instability can
happen in two ways:
¶
stacks may be unstable from
the outset because of poor stacking techniques.
¶
stacks may have been stable
originally but have become unstable; possible causes for this could be
disturbance as adjacent bales are stacked or de-stacked, or disturbance if
struck by a lift truck, slippage of bales.
Safe working
procedures for stacking and de-stacking should be drawn up and agreed with all
appropriate personnel. These procedures
should consider:
¶
the limitations of storage
area such as the floor space and height available.
¶
the physical properties of
the various types of bales.
¶
the type of lifting and
handling equipment to be used.
3
General Pointers to Safe
Storage
¶
Keep gangways/walkways
clear within the storage area and between stacks, to allow safe movement of
lifting and handling equipment.
¶
The storage space reserved
for bales should have adequate space to allow safe movement of equipment and
bales in the area, maintaining clear gangways.
¶
Floor surfaces should be
firm and level.
¶
Floors should not be
overloaded.
¶
Stacking in a pyramid
fashion and using binder bales can help to keep stacks stable.
¶
Store damaged or
doubtful-looking bales separately, not in the bulk of a stack.
¶
Inspect stacks at least
weekly and keep a record of the inspections and any resulting action.
¶
Make sure timber pallets
are in good condition if they are used.
¶
Make sure personal
protective equipment worn during handling, packing and unpacking of bales is
adequate.
¶
Introduce a safe system of
work and procedures for bale handling, stacking and de-stacking.
¶
Provide training in bale
handling and handling equipment.
To minimize climbing
on stacks, attach identification tickets to bales where they can be read easily
by a person standing at floor level.
4
Bale Stacking at JK
Spinning Mills
In this
assignment we studied, bale storage and stacking techniques at JK Spinning
Mills, 29-km Sheikhupura road, Faisalabad.
J.K Spinning
Mill consumes almost 100,000 cotton bales per year. There are total 43 godowns
in J.K Spinning Mill; having storage for up to 94,600 bales. These 43 godowns
are used by all the tree units of J.K Spinning Mill. The bales are carried in the godowns through
lifter.
All the bales
are not of same specifications. JK Spinning Mills use following types of cotton
bales;
|
Bale type
|
Length (m)
|
Height (m)
|
Width (m)
|
Weight (kg)
|
Density (kg/m3)
|
|
Pakistani
|
1.1176
|
0.4826
|
0.9652
|
159
|
305.41
|
|
Indian
|
0.7874
|
0.5320
|
0.9827
|
161
|
391.10
|
|
W. African
|
1.3716
|
0.5588
|
0.8382
|
225
|
350.24
|
4.1
Godowns Dimension and
Capacity
Godown dimension
(L x W x H) = 1200” x 480” x 216” = 30.5m x 12.20m x 5.49m
Total volume of
godown = 2,042.83m3
4.2
Bale Stacking
Three types of bales are used in
JK Spinning Mills with each having different dimensions. So, out of 43 godowns,
24 are used for Pakistani cotton bales, 11 for Indian cotton bales and 8 for
West African cotton bales.
Stacking of
Pakistani bales in 24 godowns is as;
Length wise 25
bales along the length of godown, width-wise 8 bales along the width of godown
and 11 bales from floor to roof along the height of godown. Total bales in a
godown are;
No. of bales in
godown = 25 x 8 x 11 = 2,200
So volume
covered by bales in a godown is as;
(25 x 1.1176) x
(8 x 0.9652) x (11 x 0.4826) = 1,145.28m3
Estimated bales
according to area with empty space allowance for lifter are;
Estimated no. of
bales = 26 x 10 x 10 = 2600
Stacking
of Indian bales in 11 godowns is as;
Length wise 32
bales along the length of godown, width-wise 7 bales along the width of godown
and 10 bales from floor to roof along the height of godown. Total bales in a
godown are;
No. of bales in
godown = 32 x 7 x 10 = 2,240
So volume
covered by bales in a godown is as;
(32 x 0.7874) x
(7 x 0.9827) x (10 x 0.5320) = 922m3
Estimated bales
according to area with empty space allowance for lifter are;
Estimated no. of
bales = 34 x 8 x 10 = 2720
Stacking of
West African Bales in 8 godowns is as;
Length wise 20
bales along the length of godown, width-wise 12 bales along the width of godown
and 12 bales from floor to roof along the height of godown. Total bales in a
godown are;
No. of bales in
godown = 20 x 12 x 9 = 2,160
So volume
covered by bales in a godown is as;
(20 x 1.3716) x
(12 x 0.8382) x (9 x 0.5588) = 1,388m3
Estimated bales
according to area with empty space allowance for lifter are;
Estimated no. of
bales = 21 x 13 x 9 = 2,457
Total
bales stored at a time = 52,800 + 24,640 + 17,280 = 94,720
Estimated
total bales = 62,400 + 29,920 + 19,656 = 111,976
5
Conclusion
According
to standards, bales stacking efficiency should be in range of 80 – 90%. JK
Spinning Mills have 85% efficiency in this regard, so they are good in their
bale stacking plans. Bale stacking plan should utilize as maximum as possible
area of godowns.
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