Aeris Corporation: A major manufacturer of in-plant modular home construction has elected to utilize Air Casters in lieu of typical
in-floor, inverted wheel conveyor systems. Advantages of Air Casters include an 80% reduction of man-hours as it relates to station to station
moves, improved quality due to the avoidance of shock loading and increased safety by eliminating hazardous floor toughs.
The Air Caster Load Modules are simply bolted to the underside of the frame, approximately 4 – 6 per side. Once inflated, transportation of the
in-plant modular homes weighing up to 25,000 lbs can now be moved in any direction in less than one minute using only 3 – 4 people. This gives the
production department complete flexibility to optimize valuable floor space as well as labor utilization. Since the Air Caster system uses a smooth
sealed concrete surface housekeeping is easy, tripping hazards are eliminated, and the plant becomes a show place for customer visits.
The outdated in-floor conveyor system commonly used by many modular home construction facilities, consist of 8 – 10 parallel troughs (8” wide
by 6” deep) running the full length of the plant floor. In the toughs, inverted roller conveyor sections are laid end to end with the rollers
facing upward. Mating beams bolted to the base of the modular home usually 4 – 6 per side, roll on top of the in-floor conveyor. The sides of the
beams fit down into the toughs to guide them down the construction path, allowing the modular homes to be moved in a straight line only.
Under these circumstances it takes 20 – 25 people and a fork truck to push the homes from location to location. Costly damage to the modular
home occurs when debris captured between the wheels and the base beams causes an abrupt stop or racking of the structure. This also represents a
critical safety issue to the workers pushing on the modular home. Cleaning of this system requires a significant number of man-hours and the
complete disassembly of the roller conveyor.
Air Casters eliminate these problems. Move times are reduced, labor hours and idle time eliminated and the plant is cleaner, which promotes
better work conditions including improved health and moral.
Air Casters are manufactured in diameters ranging from 12 to 60 inches and can transport loads up to thousands of tons. Air Casters require only 3- 5 lbs of effort per 1000 lbs of weight on a smooth, sealed floor surface. The omni directional capability allows total flexibility within the manufacturing cycle to optimize floor space, reduce labor hours, and improve quality and safety. Standard as well as custom designed systems are available including load modules, planks, pallets, rollmovers, turntables, and power driven steel transporters.
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