F Ball & Co. Ltd. is the UK’s leading manufacturer of floor preparation products and flooring adhesives. Its site near Leek, Staffordshire manufactures water based adhesives and coatings for distribution around the world. 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.

Stephen Tubby, Operations Director comments, “We were rotating staff to minimise the risk of operator injury but increasingly stringent regulations from the HSE made it apparent that automation was the way forward. We did however have space limitations and needed two separate functions to be performed – one to fix a lid securely to the tub and one to stack the sealed tubs onto a pallet prior to collection by a forklift.”

Stephen received a mailer from Industrial Automation of Nottingham. Industrial Automation specialise in turnkey projects and can offer a range of automation products as well as designing and manufacturing original equipment if it is not in existence. After initial consultations, Martyn Paradise of Industrial Automation proposed a purpose-designed lid application system combined with the proven Gantec 2000 flexible gantry palletising system.

F Ball & Co. already had a ten-year old machine that flat-pressed the lid onto the tub, but they did not have confidence in a 100% first time tight seal, which posed a risk of spillage once a vacuum cup lifted the tub. If spillage were to occur, the resultant mess would be awkward to clean because of the contents. Any new machine would clearly have to be ‘fit for purpose’.

The new system was installed in January 2006 and early in the integration process of the Industrial Automation system, it became apparent that a fail-safe system was needed to test the lids’ integrity. If the lift test is failed, the offending tub is diverted down a separate chute rather than continuing down the roller bed prior to elevation by the gantry palletiser. 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, Industrial Automation has developed the controller software for the system, offering operatives flexibility of operation.

Although still early days, Stephen Tubby comments, “We have been impressed with the service from Industrial Automation. Inevitably any new bespoke system is going to throw up unanticipated considerations. Prior to installation, I was already happy with the build-quality but what has impressed me the most has been Industrial Automation’s willingness to act as a partner and find solutions to any problems. We have now achieved our objective of 6 tubs per minute and hope to reach 8 shortly. We are considering automation in other parts of the factory and will be talking to Industrial Automation to hear their thoughts and proposals.” 

If you would like to find out more about the Gantec 2000 Gantry palletising System, or any of our other Pallet Handling Products, then browse the Palletising Systems section of our Products page. Alternatively download the Gantec 2000 product application sheet:

GANTEC 2000 Product Application Sheet

GANTEC 2000 Video (2MB)

To find out more about this story, or to discuss how Industrial Automation can provide your company with its own automotive solutions or pallet handling systems, feel free to contact us. Call +44 (0) 115 840 0500  or click here for further contact details.

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