Case Study

100 buffer queues added to a live engine line over a single weekend with zero downtime.

Industry: Transportation

A major US automotive OEM engine plant needed to expand mid-line buffer capacity on an active engine production line without interrupting production. Adding 100 storage queues inside a footprint already crowded with active machinery, while keeping the main line running, required careful design, an off-site build, and a tightly choreographed installation window. Han-Tek pre-built and fully tested the system at their facility, then shipped and installed the entire transfer-car-plus-chain-conveyor system on the plant floor over a single weekend, with zero disruption to the live engine line.

Their Challenge:

Add 100 additional buffer queue positions to an existing engine production line to absorb upstream variability, reduce mid-line stoppages, and protect overall plant throughput.
Fit the new buffer system entirely within the existing factory footprint around active production machinery, with no opportunity to expand the building or relocate the main line.
Install the entire system without shutting down the engine line, which limited the on-site work to a single weekend production window between shifts.
Integrate cleanly with the plant’s existing controls architecture (Siemens S7 PLC with Profibus field networking) and use the customer’s standardized field-device portfolio (Festo valve and I/O modules, Pepperl+Fuchs photo eyes and proximity switches, Lumberg splitters, Interlink BT Profibus cabling) so the new buffer was a seamless extension of the line, not a one-off subsystem.
Stay within budget on a sensitive capital project where any field discovery during a live install would have cascaded into production downtime.

Our Solution:

Han-Tek designed and delivered a turnkey transfer-car-and-chain-conveyor buffer system that takes engine-loaded pallets from the main production line, transfers them to a 100-position chain conveyor storage bank, and returns them to the main line on demand. Omni Metalcraft supplied the chain conveyor sections, with Han-Tek providing the transfer car, controls integration, and overall systems engineering.
The system runs on a Siemens S7 PLC integrated through Profibus to a network of Festo valve and I/O modules, with Pepperl+Fuchs proximity switches and photo eyes (NJ 5-18GM50-E2-V1 proximity, MPT42HD-CM photo eye base) feeding the controls, Lumberg input splitters consolidating field signals, and Interlink BT Profibus cabling tying the new buffer cleanly into the customer’s plant-wide controls architecture.
Han-Tek collaborated directly with the customer’s plant controls engineering team during the design phase. After initial drawings called for four Festo I/O modules, the customer’s controls engineer suggested consolidating to fewer modules (each Festo module is capable of driving up to 8 solenoids and 32 discrete inputs), so Han-Tek incorporated the redesign and reduced the cost without compromising functionality or future expandability.
Safety architecture was built around a hard-wired E-stop relay with safety gate switches at every guarded access point, all engineered to match the plant’s existing safety procedures so operators and maintenance technicians could service the buffer without re-training.
The entire system was assembled, wired, run, and fully tested at Han-Tek’s facility before delivery. Factory acceptance happened before any equipment ever touched the customer’s plant floor, eliminating field-discovery risk and letting the on-site team focus exclusively on installation and tie-in during the live weekend.
Han-Tek’s installation crew handled the full on-site build over a single Saturday-Sunday window, with rigging, placement, controls tie-in, and signal verification all sequenced to land before the main line restarted Monday morning. The line came back up on schedule with the new buffer fully active.

The Results:

100 buffer queue positions added: The chain conveyor storage system successfully added 100 new pallet positions to the middle of the production line, exactly the capacity the customer specified.
Single-weekend installation with zero downtime: Off-site pre-build and factory acceptance let the entire on-site installation land in one Saturday-Sunday window, with the main engine line restarting Monday morning on its normal schedule.
Mid-line stoppages reduced: The additional buffer capacity absorbs upstream variability that previously caused intermittent line stops, improving overall plant throughput.
Plant controls architecture preserved: The new buffer uses the customer’s standardized Siemens S7 PLC, Profibus networking, and Festo / Pepperl+Fuchs / Lumberg field hardware, so maintenance teams service the buffer with the same tools, training, and spare-parts inventory they already use plant-wide.
Customer engineering input incorporated: Mid-design optimization with the customer’s plant controls engineering team reduced the Festo module count and lowered system cost without compromising performance.
Zero field-discovery risk: Full factory build and test at Han-Tek’s facility before shipment meant the on-site weekend was about installation only, not troubleshooting.

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