High Capacity
Spiral
Conveyors
High Capacity Spirals are in
response to our customers’ need to
go higher and handle more weight.
They can handle double the weight
capacity of our regular spirals at speeds
up to 200 FPM.
Optionally these spirals allow loads to
enter or exit the High Capacity Spirals
at intermediate elevations. New special
induction and divert conveyors have
individually adjustable conveying surfaces
to match the spiral pitch, assuring a
smooth and reliable operation.
For application assistance or more
information, give us a call or visit
www.ryson.com.
300 Newsome Drive • Yorktown, VA 23692
Phone: (757) 898-1530 • Fax: (757) 898-1580
VERTICAL CONVEYING SOLUTIONS
Visit us at MODEX Booth B2427
Material Handling AUTOMATION
to form a layer on a 40- by 48-inch pallet.
Once a layer is built, the palletizer
uses a pusher to gently slide it off onto
a pallet. It then begins building the next
layer. To assure a stable stack, the cases
alternate their orientation from one layer
to the next, much the way bricklayers
set bricks into a wall. When the new
layer is complete, the system lowers the
pallet to allow space for the new layer to
be pushed off onto the previous layer.
The process continues until a full pallet
is built. While that might sound like a
time-consuming operation, it actually
takes place in seconds. Each of the Alvey
910 systems is designed to palletize up to
125 cases per minute.
Completed pallets then move via conveyor to workers who manually add corner boards to protect the loads during
shipping as well as pallet identification
tags for tracking purposes. The pallets
are next sent to one of two automated
stretch wrappers, with each of the palletizers feeding one stretch wrapper. The
loads are wrapped for stability and then
discharged onto holding lanes.
Forklifts next gather the pallets and
take them to temporary cold storage,
where they are staged for a few hours
before being loaded onto trucks. Some
125 loaded trucks leave the facility daily.
SWEETER RESULTS
Bee Sweet Citrus has stacked up some
solid benefits from moving to the new
automated palletizing system. To begin
with, work no longer backs up because
palletizing is unable to keep pace with
production.
“It has made a tremendous change
to our operations,” says Marderosian.
“Before, it was stop and go. Now, we
have a consistent flow.” He adds that
simply eliminating the bottlenecks has
allowed the company to move more vol-
ume through its packing areas and over-
all operate more efficiently.
Marderosian also reports that the facility has seen a significant reduction in the
labor required for its palletizing operations. And because there’s less need for
repetitive lifting of heavy cartons, associates experience fewer workplace injuries.
On top of that, the constant pressure to
keep up with the rest of the operation
has eased, creating a more pleasant work
environment. Employee turnover has
dropped as a result.
The benefits don’t end there. The operation has seen advantages with respect
to sanitation and accuracy as well. For
instance, in an operation where food
safety is always a concern, the automated
palletizers have cut down on the number
of human touches required in processing,
while simultaneously ensuring that the
right case is placed on the right pallet.
This has enhanced the company’s tracking and tracing capabilities.
Lastly, customers see more solidly built
loads coming from the facility, which
helps prevent damage in transit. “The
system builds a better, straighter load,”
says Marderosian. He adds that Bee
Sweet Citrus is considering the addition
of a third automated palletizer system as
future volumes dictate.
