Wine & Spirits

The opportunity: 

Request for a complete start- and end-of-line solution for a new bottling line in Mexico. The customer required a technical solution able to meet the specific requirements dictated by the line layout, including: the need for a high-level, multi-format depalletiserfor glass bottles, a high-level palletiser able to receive boxes from two production lines, empty-bottle conveyor belts to feed the filler, box and pallet conveyor belts, and a pallet wrapping and labelling system.

The greatest problem to be solved was the limited space available and the need to develop a solution at height, since the bottling lines to be fed had to be installed three metres higher than the loading and unloading point of the machines. 

Another unusual aspect was the requirement to simultaneously palletise products arriving from two different production lines. The customer also wished to reuse the pallets on which the empty glass bottles are delivered for the palletisation of the end product.

The system developed by Clevertech: 

Clevertech developed and proposed a technological solution never before seen anywhere in the world: a machine able to depalletise emptyglass bottles and simultaneously palletise full glass bottles arriving independently from two distinct bottling lines. 

The proposed system is composed of:

• DEPAL AD EC 50 TS 1  FAST TRANSFER designed to depalletise nine different bottle formats (ranging from 375 ml to 1750 ml capacity)
• MULTIBRAND PALLETISER AC 422 S HSD 1 MULTI AUTOMATIC PALLETISING SYSTEM able to palletise products from two independent filling lines
• Two pallet stores for GMA and CHEP formats
• System for automatic positioning of slip sheets on the pallets
• Model PF30 WRAPPING MACHINE
• Model PAS-X 1SIDE LABELLER for finished pallets
• Empty glass bottle conveyor belts to supply the filler
• Complete box conveyor belt system
• Complete pallet transport system

Clevertech’s proven Multibrand technology allows each SKU to be palletised independently according to the corresponding scheme. The pallets are then sent to a pallet conveyor line and a model PF 30 wrapper, with the possibility to insert vertical corners on the finished pallets, which is shared by the two lines.

Clevertech’s proposed solution is completely automated and does not require operator intervention to change formats, as well as being compact, limiting the area taken up and guaranteeing perfect operator accessibility and ergonomics.

The design was developed using a fully Integrated solution approach, which allows us to offer customers a complete interface optimised both from production and logistics standpoints, allowing for more efficient use of space, synchronised management, and reductions in costs and labour for system operation and maintenance.

This integrated approach provides for the following, amongst other things: 

• Identical operator panels along the line
• Mechanical and electrical components common to all machines
• Electrical panels with the same architecture and components throughout the line
• Common manuals for all machines

The system was supplied with the following technical documentation:

• Integrated system for scheduled maintenance of the system
• Multimedia documentation for the operator
• Multimedia documentation for spare parts management

Performance data:

• Depal is able to depalletise nine bottle formats at a maximum rate of 140 bottles/minute for the 1750 ml format
• AC 422 S HSD 1 Multibrand Palletiser able to receive products from two lines covering format 375 ml, 700 ml, 750 ml, 1000 ml, 1750 ml with a maximun speed of 33 boxes/minute

Overall system efficiency: 99%