handling case study l
European Conveyor Systems (ECS) has completed a contract for 34 custom-built work-benches, a powered conveyor, check-weigh scales, a vacuum- assisted lifting device and eight trolleys as part of a major investment to support research and development at GlaxoSmithKline.
Clinical excellence
research and development. The warehouse has been built to handle the storage and delivery of drugs in the clinical trials required before approval for marketing, which can last up to 15 years. At present about 4,000 shipments a month are sent out, and this figure is projected to increase. Following a previous successful installation for GSK, ECS was awarded the contract for the packing area, where orders for the investigational drugs are picked from high-volume carousels, taken to the work-benches and packed for shipment. A powered conveyor beside the packing benches moves the sealed packages to the despatch area, where scales integrated into the despatch end of the conveyor allow operators to check the weight of each item. If it is less than 15kg, it is lifted manually on to a pallet or into a roll cage. If over 15kg, the vacuum lift unit is used.
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The conveyor has a zero-pressure accumulation feature, which allows boxes to queue without touching and be indexed forward one at a time for check-weighing. The use of high- quality drives has reduced noise levels to below 68dBA as well as reducing energy usage, and a power-save mode has also been included, which switches
36 ShD December 2011
www.PressOnShD.com Right:
Equipment from European Conveyor Systems at
GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development, Harlow, Essex.
SK is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and health-care
companies, and in 2010 spent £3.96 billion on
off the powered sections of the conveyor when they are not in use. The conveyor is controlled by an industry-standard PLC unit that provides completely automatic operation and has sufficient capacity to allow for future
extensions. Text displays identify individual motor malfunctions and emergency-stop activations. The work- benches and trolleys were manufactured by ECS in prototype form initially and are adjustable from 850mm to 1050mm high to suit the needs of different
warehouse staff. The work- benches have various
cupboards, shelves, power sockets and lights, as well as computer screens and hand-held
scanners linked
to the central warehouse computer. The trolleys have ball units on top to make handling large boxes easier for the warehouse staff. ●
www.europeanconveyors.co.uk
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