Contract packer boosts handling system
Colwall Conveyor Systems (CCS) has recently completed a £480K contract for one of the UK’s contract packers, who handle a wide range of drinks including soft drinks, fruit alcoholic beverages and beers.
Working closely with the client, CCS produced a series of proposed graduated improvements, enabling individual new layouts to be installed over a series of short shutdowns. This not only minimised disruption to production, but also allowed the client to fund the overall project on a phased basis.
New conveyors were supplied during each phase of the project and where possible, certain bottle conveyors were cost effectively refurbished and re-engineered. CCS provided a full mechanical & electrical installation service supported by new control panels, automation and commissioning.
Phased installation
The first phase involved extending the depalletisation and palletisation areas, shortly followed by phase two – rationalising the complex packing area to streamline the bottle, multipack and pack flow.
The final phase was involved re-organise the rinsing, filling and labelling area to include the introduction bottle accumulation, bottle combiners and an accumulation table.
As a consequence, there was a reported noticeable increase in speed and efficiency after each of the 3 phases, resulting in a major reduction in overtime, increased handling capacity and enabled new contracts to be pursued.
The customer has confirmed that the new layout is very ‘operator friendly’ and has provided for a logical material flow throughout the line.
