What is believed to be the first fully automated non stop logistical system for feeding and delivery of cartonboard to large format die cutters and removal of pallets is under final testing at Kappa Packaging in Corby, UK. The company has also upgraded its two Bobst die cutters for continuous operation. Together they should improve productivity by 10 per cent and reduce personnel by one or two operators per shift.
Developed by Danish company Inframatics, the new system starts with pallets of board delivered by forklift to six loading zone roller conveyors. The operator enters the order number and the number of pallets into the control system, which tells him on a screen which conveyor it has to be placed on. The loading zone conveyors can be filled with five pallets, each of maximum size for the Bobsts, which ensures that production can continue for approximately four hours without human intervention.
When the Bobst is ready to receive a pile, the control system orders a transfer cart to pick up a pallet from a loading zone roller conveyor and transfer it to the Inframatics pile preparing machine. This moves the pallet into a horizontal position, then it is picked up by a pallet handing robot and placed in two different stacks. When the stack reaches 10 pallets, the control system calls for the transfer cart to pick up the pallets and remove them to the reject conveyor for the forklift truck driver to collect at his convenience. .
The control system calculates the flow of piles between the load zone, store roller conveyors, pile preparing machine and transport conveyors on the platform in front of the Bobst die cutters. It also ensures that the die cutters are supplied with piles in the right order.
The installation at the Corby plant, which converts 30,000t of solid board a year, replaces a semi automatic system which still relied on manual handling to turn the piles, remove the pallets and load the die cutters.
"The payback on staff reduction, together with the increase in production of 10 per cent, was a very attractive proposition," says operations director Paul Watts. "It gave me the opportunity to introduce a third shift without employing any more staff."
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