Treating pelletizer knives increases their life an extraordinary amount.  At one major household products supplier, cryogenic processing increased the life of pelletizer blades and screens from two months to over two years.  This company had over 50 pelletizers at one plant alone.  The potential savings in labor, sharpening, purchasing costs and new parts are enormous.  Even if you only have one pelletizer you cannot afford to give your competition the advantage of lower costs.

The list just keeps going on and on.  Can you afford to give your competition such an advantage?

 

Cost Comparison, Cryogenically Treated vs. Non Treated Pelletizer Blades

The following is a cost comparison for the difference in total expenditures between a set of cryogenically treated knives and untreated knives for a Nelmore grinder. The blades are D2 steel.  The data come from a major household goods manufacturing plant in North America.  Results may vary with type of plastic and other factors.  Processing costs will vary with blade size and number.

Data:

1. Untreated blades wear dull in three months of service. This is the figure given to us by the customer.
2. Cryogenically treated blades wear dull in 24 months. This again is a figure given to us by the customer.
3. Labor to change blades is four hours.
4. Cost to sharpen a set of blades is $100.00
5. Untreated blade sets can be sharpened ten times
6. Cryo processing of the blade set costs $500
7. The blade set costs $750.
8. Time basis for the calculation is one year.
9. Labor charge out costs are $50.00

The total cost of using the blades will need to consider
1. The cost of the set(s) used minus any residual value at the end of the year
2. Sharpening Costs
3. Labor Costs

1. Blade Cost
The cost of the untreated blade sets are:

The cost of a treated set for one year is:

2. The yearly cost of sharpening the two is as follows:

The yearly cost of sharpening untreated blades is:

The yearly cost of sharpening treated blades is:

3. The labor cost for changing the blades is calculated:

The yearly cost of changing untreated blades is:

The yearly cost of changing treated blades is:

SUMMARY

Summary of Pelletizer Blade Costs

	Untreated	Treated
Yearly Cost of Knives	$273	$57
Yearly Cost of Sharpening	$400	$50
Yearly Cost of Labor	$800	$100
Totals	$1473	$257

The money saved by using cryogenic processing is $1216 per year per grinder. Over the 65+ grinders in this one plastic molding plant, the potential savings is over $79,000 per year. The money invested in processing the blades is returned in less than six months. More savings are available if the screens are processed.