Automatic Inline Wrapping Machine solution for multinational grocery…
Our customer is a multinational grocery retailer with distribution centres strategically placed around Australia. The system operated that they would pick mixed orders for transport to "high street" outlets throughout Australia.
In picking these orders, they were then wrapped by hand before loading onto transport for their final destination and sale.
- At peak times multiple employees could be wrapping up to 130 pallets per hour creating a large area dedicated to this process.
- WH&S issues with employees at risk from dizziness from undertaking such a formidable and ongoing process.
- Wrapping of pallets was inconsistent and therefore product damage rates were high and not easy to control.
Wrapping Machine Solution
In engaging FROMM to find the solution, we spend significant time observing the general operation, employee engagement, health and safety risks, wastage and presentation of product for transport.
We designed two "small" pallet unitising lines to achieve the following:
- The logic smarts installed in the conveyor system understands if the pallets are to be wrapped as four individual, two x two, or even two x one x one, or one x two x one.
- Using an electric reach truck, the customer can drop up to four small pallets at the same time.
- The pallets pass through the wrapping station and the film is applied in sufficient quantity to contain the load but not in excess to create unnecessary waste.
- Exiting the wrapping station, each wrapped load is squared and then sent to the end of the line to be accumulated back into sets of four for pick up by another electric reach truck.
- In addition, we created a loading and unloading point within the unitising station to allow forklifts to drop off larger Australian standard pallets, have them wrapped and picked up without disturbing the straight-through process of the smaller pallets.
For the customer, they can process large volumes of pallets, wrapped to meet their needs without any risk to employees in a busy and fast moving work place environment.
The two FROMM Wrapping systems were installed at the same site and tick all the customer drivers of, safety, ROI, product integrity, environmental impacts and improved process.