Customer Problem: 

Originally the customer wanted to add an additional labelling solution from Premier to be fitted into a much larger turnkey production line. Amongst their labeller, their other components included: A rotary filling and capping machine, A metal detector, conveyor system, labelling system, auto reject of non-conforming products, case packer and a robotic palletiser.

 

The line included suppliers from Germany, Italy and the UK. A main requirement was that the line had to fit onto a very small proximity of space, So it is necessary to supply sufficient line space to allow the correct flow of products at speeds up to 120bpm. At this speed you need quite a lot of accumulation areas to allow the line to run with minimal stoppages. Failure to allow adequate product accumulation areas on a line can lead to frequent Stop/Start situations and ultimately a lower daily production figure.

 

A line that is running smoothly at a steady production rate is far more efficient and organised while often leading to a reduction in the resource on the line" - Damian McGloin (Operations Director).

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Our Solution: 

Having reviewed the line layout for the position of the labeller with the customers technical team it was agreed that it wasn’t the best option for their needs. The start and end of the line arrived fully assembled from the suppliers, all pre-tested and approved. The main problem was with the middle section of the line where the labelling machine would be positioned. When the start and end of the line sections were positioned on the layout drawings, it did not leave a lot of room. Leaving the middle to fit in all the extra kit that was required. After analysing the initial design from the customers team, we found - while it maximised the space within the new facility, there was no consideration given to product handling. The products were tall and un-stable, but the drawing showed 8 crossovers which was a major concern and there was almost no allowance for the metal detector to be implemented - which was a necessary requirement for the customer. 

 

OV proposed to design and manufacture a custom middle section of the overall production line, so we could connect directly into the filling machine on the infeed as well as the case packer on the outfeed. This meant we could take control of the product handling aspect straight through that troublesome full middle section, saving multiple contact points and contractors working on it. Having the project management lead via one specialist output allows consideration for all components to run seamlessly and efficiently. Using our many years of FMcG experience and product handling knowledge to design a system that not only give the customer - the metal detector, auto reject system and labelling machine they needed, but also a system with no transfers on the unstable product. This was designed in a horseshoe conveyor with a seamless gate transfer which meant the products that needed to run through the metal detector could at high speeds, but the unstable ones stay on the much slower labelling conveyor. This design fitted perfectly into the customers restricted space while given the line a lot of product accumulation areas to ensure an efficient flow.