Gas Cylinder or LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) is used for cooking, lighting, and heating. Gas cylinder has become an important part of in day-to-day household chores. Gas cylinder manufacturing, distributing and refilling is large industry that comprises of intricate operations and processes. The mass produce the gas cylinders, the industry has to be constantly operational. As the population increases, the mouths to feeds also rises gradually, ultimately increasing the demand of gas cylinders.
Gas cylinder manufacturing is an extremely long process and involves various processes and operations. Starting from the procurement of the raw material needed for manufacturing the gas cylinders, the industry has to track the progress till the gas cylinder is ready for shipment. The process of manufacturing gas cylinders is extremely agile in nature, hence pose multiple challenges on the production line.
Gas cylinder industry needs raw material for production of LPG gas cylinders. This raw material is mainly steep sheets. The composition and properties of the sheets of steel purchased for the production has to be absolutely perfect, to avoid production defects. The sheets are then put into hydraulic press to give a cylindrical shape to the sheet of steel. This is the first step that goes into manufacturing of gas cylinders. Deep drawing, trimming, poshing, and hole punching are the processes that are involved in creating a cylindrical shape of steel sheets.
Next comes the bottom ring of the cylinder. This is important process as some manufacturers spot welds the ring on the bottom of the cylinder, but after longer exposure to moisture, the cylinder can corrode resulting heavy loss and compromising the structural integrity of the cylinder. Raw material for ring is mainly steel. The holes are punched in the steel bars, and then given a shape of ring. After the bar of steel takes the shape of ring, continuous welding method or process is used to weld the ring to the bottom of the cylinder. This increases the stability of the cylinder and makes it easy to carry. The holes are punched for the sole reason to eliminate the accumulation of fluid that eliminates the possibility of catching corrosion as air ventilation is achieved by the process.
Gas cylinder contains various other parts that are attached to cylinder such as nozzle, and regulators. To prevent these parts from damaging, the top part of the gas cylinder needs a guard. To make these guards, raw material used is steel. The guard is rolled into circle, and then the unique gas cylinder code for identification is typed onto it. This code is important as the code is used to identify the cylinder from the lot of cylinders. The guard is then attached with handle for holding the cylinder to carry it from one place to another.
The final stage in gas cylinder manufacturing is assembly of the gas cylinder. The cylinder is welded together, during the welding process it is crucial that the cylinder is properly welding and the quality of the welding is top notch. The guard ring, cylinder shell, and bottom base of the cylinder is welded together to form a complete intact cylinder. The complete cylinder then undergoes various test phases. First comes the non-destructive test, in which pressure is applied on the entire cylinder to test its strength. Then mechanics performance testing is done. Rupture test is followed after mechanics performance testing, to determine that the cylinder is prone to burst or tear down. Air leakage test is also performed on the cylinder to determine that there exists no leakage in the cylinder.
These ready to ship cylinders are then shipped to particular distributor for further retail.
Gas cylinder post manufacturing are distributed to respective distribution facilities for further retail. But distributing gas cylinders is no easy task. When the gas cylinders are distributed to their respective warehouse, then are sent to specific agencies. These cylinders can be from variety of brands. After the LPG in the gas cylinder is exhausted, the gas cylinder needs to be refilled. The refilling is done in refilling plant, or existing empty gas cylinders can be exchanged for refilled gas cylinder. The process differs from agencies to agencies.
The distribution and refilling of gas cylinder is a vast network. The information of each customer, their addresses, and number of gas connections has to be properly maintained. This is a huge collection of records, and if misplaced can create a blunder for the agency. The refilling of the cylinder has norms to check if the cylinder is intact for refill. facility.
The cylinder has to be thoroughly checked, and only licensed facility can carry on the refilling of the LPG gas in the cylinders. The facility should not have match or fire in the vicinity which can cause fire. These safety precautions are necessary to be taken to prevent damage to human life or
ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. It is a software which meticulously plans the resources available in the industry and allocate them to proper tasks or operations. Gas cylinder manufacturing is large industry, and involves several operations for gas cylinder manufacturing. To ensure all the operations are carried out in expected timeline, then a efficient and effective system must be implemented in the industry. Both gas cylinder manufacturing and distribution are intricate processes, and without suitable software, the industry can succumb to failure.
ERP software monitors and track all the operations which takes place in the gas cylinder manufacturing industry. ERP software also enables the industry and distribution facilities to completely automate their system so that no error should occur. This process eliminates the delays caused by human intervention. The central storage of information is readily available and can be easily fetched at any instance when the requirement arises. The software contains various modules that keeps the track of all the operations in gas cylinder manufacturing industry and distribution agencies.
The gas cylinder manufacturing, distribution & Refilling industry contains large amount of records and information of the customers and clients. This information is of utmost importance and must not be lost. To manage this information ERP software helps the industry to keep it secure and centrally stored. ERP software also enables automation which is beneficial for large industry like gas cylinder.
Lighthouse ERP is one of the best ERP for Cylinder Manufacturing, Distribution and Refilling industry. Lighthouse ERP is constantly upgraded according to the changing requirements in industries. 35+ years of experience in designing and implementing ERPs, Lighthouse Info is providing industry specific ERP software to various industries to improve their business. Implementation of various modules in Lighthouse ERP makes it seamless to communicate between various divisions or departments in the industry. Lighthouse ERP is the quintessential how ERP software is.
ERP software is the need of hour for various industries including gas cylinder manufacturing, distribution and refilling. To stay in business in this digital era, the industries needs to opt for digital solutions that can suffice their needs.
