MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Goplasticpallets.com and Soft Design AB have been selected by rigid plastic packaging specialist, Logoplaste, to help improve the efficiency of its manufacturing operation for a well-known sports drink, in order to produce enough bottles to meet demand for the London 2012 Olympics.
Chris Jones, Project Manager for Logoplaste, said: "As we manufacture many millions of bottle preforms each month, we needed a box capable of holding up to 20,000 parts. Plastic boxes were the logical choice as they are hygienic, reusable and – unlike wood and cardboard boxes – they offer consistent size and weight so are suitable for handling in automated systems."
As the UK’s sole supplier of Europe’s largest 1,400 litre plastic pallet box, Goplasticpallets.com was selected to supply 2,000 of its GoBox 1311 plastic containers with lids. Some slight modifications were made to the container and lid to ensure that the boxes could be stacked accurately and securely up to 5 boxes high.
Swedish automated solution provider, Soft Design AB, provided the automation required for the project, which consisted of seven Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), two Pick & Place lid application and removal machines and eight Box Tippers. The company’s state-of-the-art AGV Control System "MAX" was programmed to locate and identify all the boxes throughout the manufacturing process; to calculate the quantity of plastic preforms in each box; to track the boxes from the beginning of the production line to the warehouse, and to empty and replenish the boxes as required.
This project represents a £35 million contract awarded to Logoplaste by a global pharmaceutical manufacturer responsible for producing close to one billion bottles of the popular sports drink every year.
