Automate Your Way to More Treats! |
A national producer of lollipops, gum and chewy candy treats, manufactures and hand palletizes nearly 15 pallets an hour of their delicious sugary treats. Each 1,800 lb. pallet contains boxes weighing 5-10 pounds each – that is 27,000 pounds of sweets per hour!
Their candy products are packaged for display sales at quickie marts and grocery stores throughout the United States. The tricky part of palletizing their product was handling mixed RSC (Regular Slotted Container) and open top WIP (Work in Progress) cases due to their instability when stacking. They were seeking a way to stack and palletize their unstable loads, minimizing the labor-intensive process of hand palletizing the boxes while keeping up with the growing demand for their treats.
They decided to automate the process via robotic palletizing and were seeking a partner that could handle the task of integrating the conveyors and robotic equipment to yield the desired outcome.
After several meetings and layout reviews, the candy producer decided to partner with our customer Remtec Automation LLC due to their expertise in robotic integration, value of equipment, and proximity to the candy manufacturer.
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Remtec Automation, an Alba integration partner, reached out to Alba looking for an automatic way to dispense a single pallet from a stack of 40” x 48” GMA pallets. They also needed to convey the empty pallet downstream to a robotic palletizing cell which would be constructed from two parallel lines located on either side of the robot.
Once palletized, the completed loads would then be conveyed further downstream where labels would be applied, and an automatic stretch wrapper would wrap the load in preparation for shipment. |
Alba provided 3D generated drawings in SolidWorks to Remtec which allowed them the ability to drop the conveyor blocks into their equipment layout and present them to the end user in 3D. Alba provided a standard pallet dispenser without controls as well as multiple sections of conveyor including CDLR, transfers, and drag chain conveyor in the arrangement of the cell.
The equipment was manufactured in our plant in Fairfield, Ohio, quality checked and shipped out to Remtec Automation in Mason, Ohio. After receiving the Alba equipment, Remtec married their robot and controls to our equipment in preparation for a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at Remtec’s Mason Facility. Alba worked with Remtec to design and build a system that was flexible, robust, and efficient to satisfy the customer’s needs.
The implementation of the robotic palletizing conveyor system reduced the safety risks with manual palletizing and the need to keep up with the ever-growing demand for product.
Conveyor/Product Specifications |
| One (1) Pallet Dispenser without Controls
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| Two (2) 251140-4-52 CDLR Conveyors 2 1/2" x 11 Ga, 52" EW |
| Two (2) IFT251140-4-2S 2-Strand In-Frame Transfer Conveyors |
| Four (4) DC-R80-3S 3-Strand Drag Chain Conveyors |
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Alba Manufacturing is your full-service, conveyor manufacturer for all your pallet handling applications. Call us to locate your nearest Alba Partner Network Member to assist with your next project at 866.252.2634 or visit our website at www.albamfg.com. |
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