The Backstory
A national manufacturer of pet food was experiencing tremendous growth for their product which required installing new production lines and a new building expansion to keep up with consumer demand. The manufacturer was looking for a way to change the pallet orientation of a 40″ x 48″ GMA pallet for pickoff after coming out of their existing palletizing machine and were limited on space with the new production lines already installed.
The rate at which they were palletizing bags of pet food was one 40” x 48” pallet every two minutes. Pallets were exiting the palletizer with the narrow edge leading and they needed them to be presented wide edge leading so they could remove the pallets from the side of the conveyor via fork truck. They were limited on space due to existing production lines, building constraints, and column locations.
The Application
The end user looked to one of Alba’s new system integrator partners to provide an automated solution to receive pallets from the palletizer narrow edge leading, lift and rotate the pallets 90°, and present the pallet wide edge leading for unloading.
In addition to the equipment required, they also needed the integrator to provide the controls for the new equipment and combine them with their existing palletizer control panel and install the equipment. The customer gave the integrator a short 4-day shutdown window in which to complete the installation and integration.
Alba’s Solution
Alba provided a lift and rotate conveyor, and a CDLR conveyor with fixed end stop, X-braced supports due to the conveyor height, fork truck wheel stop and barrier for side unloading the conveyor. To expedite the installation process, Alba provided the lift and rotate conveyor and fork truck unload conveyor with pre-mounted photo eyes with QD cables. The addition of these devices kept the installation group from having to source the devices and field mount them.
The pallet conveyor from Alba, along with the integrator’s controls, helped solve the flow problem that the customer was experiencing. They installed the equipment, controls, and had the line back up and running in the customer’s requested installation timeframe.
Conveyor/Product Specifications
Product: 40″ x 48″ GMA Pallets of Pet Food Weighing 1,800 lb.
Specifications for Alba supplied Conveyors:
- Model No. 251140-3.25 Lift and Rotate Chain Driven Live Roller Conveyor 52″ EW x 7′ 8″ long, 60 FPM, 23″ Top of Roller
- Model No. 251140-3.25 Chain Driven Live Roller Conveyor 52″ EW x 4′ 11-1/4″ long, 60 FPM, 23″ Top of Roller
About Us
Alba Manufacturing, established in 1973, engineers and designs heavy-duty roller conveyor systems. Our systems consist of chain driven live roller (CDLR), zero pressure accumulation, drag chain, gravity, lift and rotate, pallet stackers and dispensers, turntables, chain transfers and transfer cars. Our corporate office and manufacturing facility is located in Fairfield, Ohio, approximately 30 minutes north of Cincinnati, Ohio.
For more information regarding this application/solution, please contact us via phone at 866.252.2634; via web at www.albamfg.com or via email at RockSolidConveyor@albamfg.com.
