Salt - ffs bagging & palletising system
Client
Peacock Salt is among the UK’s largest suppliers of de-icing salt with supply volume reaching 350,000 tonnes a year. https://www.peacocksalt.com/
Peacock Salt contracted Webster Griffin to supply a comprehensive solution including Form Fill Seal packing, Okura Robot palletising and Big Bag Filling to pack their de-icing salt range into 5 – 25kg bags and Bulk Bags at their state-of-the-art facility in Port Ayr, Scotland.
Challenge
To achieve a high speed packing line and palletising for different grades of corrosive de-icing salt product.
- Flexibility to pack multiple different bag types and sizes a must
- Gusseted and non-gusseted bags
- 5 kg and 10 kg bags with handles
- 15kg, 20kg, 25kg pillow or gusset bags
- Single loop big bags
- System to operate 2 shifts per day throughout winter
- Minimal operator input, causes of stoppages or alarms easy to identify
- Corrosion resistant with minimal moving parts. Reduced factory maintenance and cleaning
- Supply chain reliability with the capacity to pack on demand catering to limited warehouse space
- Stretch wrap protected pallets to ensure bags arrive clean and dry to customers
- Minimal downtime between product and bag size changeovers to maximise efficiency
Solution
Webster Griffin proposed a versatile, high speed bagging and palletising system including Form Fill Seal and Bulk Bag bagging and robot palletising system. Peacock Salt's turnkey solution was tailored according to their precise requirements.
- FFS CV2080 vertical FFS bagging machine – continuously operates making and filling bags from a reel of flat printed film which it forms into a tube. The seal at the top of the first bag also forms the bottom of the next bag
- The flat film roll machine has few moving parts which means minimal exposure to the corrosive effects of salt whilst allowing for enhanced accessibility for maintenance and cleaning
- Okura A1600 Robot palletiser – equipped with Okura OXPA ‘Easy Teach’ programming for different bag sizes and palletising patterns. The palletiser self-adjusts for different bag sizes and palletising patterns which can be altered at the push of a button
- Uniwrap 300 AE rotating arm pallet stretch wrapper in which the plastic sheet is automatically cut-to-size and placed on top of the palletised load to ensure complete waterproof protection
- Single arm single big bag filling machine for simple bulk bag loading
- Two duplex electronic net weigh scales - alternately weigh and discharge elected volume of salt into bagging machine filling tube
- Corrosion resistant construction including stainless steel 304 parts. Anti-corrosion epoxy paint finish with brass and aluminium parts, and IP65 splash and dust proof electrics and cabling ensures a robust industrial structure
- 8m Bag Flattener – electronically adjustable to cater to varying requirements of compression ensuring that excess air is squeezed out of the micro-perforated filled bags
- Pallet conveyor system complete with pallet magazine with a capacity of up to 15 pallets. The system ensures the changeover period occurs within 5 seconds
- Individual integrated touch screen PLC control system simplifying varying programme changes through constant communication with the parent controller to ensure total control
- Guarding system complaint to health and safety requirements
Result
Peacock Salt now packs de-icing salt at a rate of 900 bags per hour. The low maintenance solution reduced labour required from 3 – 4 operators to a single fork lift driver who twice a day loads a 600kg roll of plastic film into the bagging machine and ensures the pallet magazine remains stocked.
- Peacock Salt now packs multiple grades of salt into 5kg and 10kg bags with handles and 15kg, 20kg and 25kg pillow/gusset bags. The system can also fill bulk bag containers
- Seamless product switching allows for Peacock Salt to cater more effectively to changes in customer demands
- High Speed bagging with rates of up to 900 bags per hour each pallet is completed and ready to be dispatched within 2.7 minutes
- Increased warehouse space – Due to the flexibility of the new line, Peacock Salt can pack on demand, keeping stock levels low and saving warehouse space
- During wrapping, a plastic sheet is cut to size and placed on top of the stack, ensuring each package is waterproof and arrives to the customer in perfect condition