MIXING, WEIGHING & CONVEYING
RatheR thaN RePLaCe human labour, optimise it
Replacing its manual turntable style apple crate loading operation with two ergonomic Brillopak PAKStations has enabled leading apple producer Adrian Scripps to boost the efficiency of its packing operation
Brillopak’s PakStation optimises manual packing efficiency at Adrian Scripps
enabled apple producer Adrian Scripps to boost the efficiency of its packing operation. “The PAKStation has made the entire
R
process easier for the person packing. Historically, packs were presented to packing staff on a Lazy Susan rotary table, which allows a large area for crates to accumulate. We wanted a solution whereby crates were presented to the operator without accumulation, so that the pace of packing is dictated by the machine rather than people,” said James Simpson, managing director of Adrian Scripps. Adrian Scripps grows and packs several
varieties of apple – Braeburn, Kanzi, Jazz, Opal, Gala, Red Prince and Bramley – along with Conference pears and blackcurrants. The family owned farming business is one of Tesco’s key apple suppliers. Historically, apples were sold either loose in
moulded fibre trays or in plastic bags with a neck tie. Both packing operations were entirely manual, and packing staff worked at a rate of 2.5-5 packs per minute (ppm) on average. When Adrian Scripps took the decision to invest in flow wrapping equipment, this accelerated the speed of the packaging operation but left packing hall staff struggling to keep up.
eplacing its manual turntable style apple crate loading operation with two ergonomic Brillopak PAKStations has
“That left us with lots of packs coming off
the flow wrapper at speed, creating a very repetitive task – that was when we engaged
“ The PAKStation is
ergonomically-designed to help minimise operator movement
Brillopak, who we knew had experience in automation in FMCGs for the grocery trade,” explained Simpson. On visiting the Kent facility, Brillopak quickly
”
got the measure of the situation. “Up to three people were trying to manually
pack flow wrap apples into retail crates at a rate of up to 60 per minute per line. The packing operatives couldn’t consistently keep up with the pace, which meant upstream efficiency improvements from their grading and flow-wrap investments were impacted,” recalled David Jahn, director at Brillopak. “Brillopak immediately understood what we
were looking for and very quickly got to grips with the challenges,” said Simpson. Brillopak’s engineers designed a semi-
automated version of the traditional ‘Lazy Susan’ style packing station, now branded as the PAKStation. The system helps manual staff load packs of fresh produce into retail crates,
improving process and productivity at more than 12 UK fresh produce packhouses to date. One of the reasons for the popularity of the
PAKStation is that rather than trying to replace human labour, it optimises it. “The PAKStation is ergonomically designed
to minimise operator movement by feeding product at the right height and in the right orientation. Unlike with a round table, with the PAKStation there is no swivelling or turning; the operator simply places the product gently into the crate without moving,” said Jahn. He says this makes a “surprising” difference
to crate packing efficiency, typically increasing line speed by 15% across a shift. At Adrian Scripps, one person feeds empty
crates into two PAKStation systems. A roller conveyor then transports them to the operator. Bags of apples coming directly from the flow wrapper are transported into the system on a second, higher level conveyor. The operator simply has to pick the bags off the moving conveyor and place them in the crate. Because there is no accumulation, packing has to be consistent, thereby putting the system – not the operator – in control of line speed. Filled crates exit the PAKStations and
converge onto a single infeed into a robotic palletiser, also supplied by Brillopak. Simpson concluded “You can honestly trust
Brillopak... We couldn’t have worked with a better partner on this project.”
Brillopak
www.brillopak.co.uk
FeBRUaRY 2021 | PROCeSS & CONtROL 19
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