Automated palletising reduces risk
December 1st 2006 Floor preparation products and flooring adhesives specialist, F Ball & Co. manufactures water based adhesives and coatings at its Staffordshire site. Following a major risk analysis exercise in 2005, the management decided to automate its palletising operation to reduce the risk to employees associated with lifting, twisting and stooping when manually handling the 15kg tubs. The aim was to stack the buckets at a rate of 6 to 8 buckets a minute. After initial consultations, Martyn Paradise of Industrial Automation Ltd (IAL) proposed a purposedesigned lid application system combined with the proven Gantec 2000 flexible gantry palletising system. The new system was installed in January 2006. The IAL lid application system employs a series of high-speed rollers that run round the rim of the lid and click it in place. The tubs are then passed sequentially to two pallet positions contained by wire mesh gates. In addition to the supply and installation of the system, IAL has developed the controller software for the system, offering operatives flexibility of operation More articles from Impacto Protective Products Inc: | 
