Redesigned Drive Train and Frame Assembly Reduce Mechanical Failures by 74% Across 12-Month Field Validation

Zray has completed a major mechanical structure optimization project across its carton forming machine product line, targeting the drive train, frame assembly, and key wear components. The upgraded mechanical design has been validated through 12 months of field operation on 22 production machines, demonstrating a 74% reduction in mechanical failure events compared to the previous generation.

The optimization project was initiated following a detailed failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) conducted on field service data from 2019 through 2024. The analysis identified three mechanical subsystems that collectively accounted for 71% of all mechanical failures: the main drive transmission (34%), the blank feeding mechanism (22%), and the folding station guide assemblies (15%).

“The mechanical failures we were seeing in the field were not catastrophic, but they were persistent enough to affect customer confidence,” explained Zray’s Mechanical Engineering Manager. “A bearing replacement at 8,000 hours instead of 20,000 hours, or a timing belt that required re-tensioning every three months instead of every year—these are the kinds of issues that gradually undermine a machine’s reputation for reliability. We set out to eliminate every one of these failure modes.”

Key Mechanical Redesigns

The optimization program addressed each high-failure subsystem with targeted engineering changes:

Main Drive Transmission: The previous design used a combination of chain drives and gearboxes to distribute power from a single main motor to multiple forming stations. The upgraded design replaces all chain drives with direct-coupled servo motors on each forming axis, eliminating chain stretch, lubrication requirements, and the associated maintenance adjustments. The gearbox count has been reduced from six to two, with the remaining units upgraded to helical bevel designs with increased service factors. Bearing arrangements on all drive shafts have been revised to use sealed, pre-lubricated units rated for 30,000 hours of continuous operation.

Blank Feeding Mechanism: The vacuum belt feeding system has been redesigned with larger-diameter rollers (increased from 40 mm to 60 mm) to reduce belt flex fatigue, a primary cause of belt edge cracking in the previous design. Belt tension is now maintained by a spring-loaded automatic tensioning mechanism that compensates for belt stretch without manual adjustment. The vacuum plenum has been redesigned with individually-valved zones, allowing operators to isolate vacuum to the active feeding area and reduce air consumption by up to 30%.

Folding Station Guide Assemblies: The folding ploughs and guide rails—previously manufactured from mild steel with hard chrome plating—have been upgraded to hardened tool steel (HRC 58-60) with a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating. This change addresses two failure modes: surface wear on the chrome plating that led to increased friction and carton scuffing, and corrosion in facilities with high ambient humidity. Accelerated wear testing showed a 400% improvement in service life for the DLC-coated guides compared to chrome-plated equivalents.

Field Validation Results

The mechanical upgrades were first implemented on a pilot group of 12 machines delivered between January and March 2025, operating in production environments across Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, and Russia. An additional 10 machines were delivered with the upgraded design through the remainder of 2025.

After 12 months of field operation, the cumulative data shows:

• Mechanical Failure Events: 14 failures across 22 machines over 12 months, compared to an expected 54 failures based on historical rates for the previous design
• Unplanned Downtime Due to Mechanical Causes: Averaged 0.7 hours per machine per month, down from 2.8 hours
• Bearing Replacements: 3 replacements across 22 machines in 12 months, representing a failure rate of 0.14 per machine-year, versus 0.84 per machine-year previously
• Belt Replacements: 4 replacements, down from a historical average of 12 per machine-year
• Lubrication Points Requiring Manual Intervention: Reduced from 18 to 4 per machine

Customer Impact

A German packaging converter that operates four Zray machines—two from the previous generation and two from the upgraded design—provided comparative data that confirmed the improvement. The upgraded machines required 3 maintenance interventions over 12 months, compared to 11 interventions for the previous-generation machines over the same period.

“We track maintenance cost per 1,000 cartons as our primary equipment metric,” said the company’s Technical Director. “The upgraded Zray machines are running at EUR 0.12 per 1,000 cartons in maintenance cost, compared to EUR 0.31 for the previous generation. That difference translates directly to our bottom line.”

Standardization and Retrofit Availability

The mechanical upgrades have been standardized across Zray’s full product range as of all machines manufactured after January 2026. A retrofit package for the main drive transmission and folding station guide assemblies is available for existing machines, with 14 retrofit kits already ordered by customers in Europe and Central Asia. Zray expects the mechanical optimization to contribute to a 30% reduction in warranty costs for 2026 deliveries.