Tru Blu Beverages replaces ineffective palletising system with reliable Australian designed solution
The Challenge: To replace an existing palletising system that had proven to be unreliable and was causing production delays. The new palletiser needed to be able to change between 7 different sku’s all with differing pallet patterns.
The Solution: A Fibre King CP30R Mechanical Palletiser customised to suit existing production layout and included a remote pallet dispenser.
Tru Blu Beverages is a proudly Australian-owned company that has created some of the most respected brands (Pub Squash, Waterfords Mineral Water, Diet Rite and Wicked Energy Drink) that Australian families have come to love and trust, they also pack some of Australian supermarkets’ most popular private label or generic brands. In fact, 1 in 6 beverages purchased by Australian consumers is made by Tru Blu Beverages. That's a pretty impressive track record! So when Tru Blu went looking for a reliable palletising solution to replace the one that was letting them down, it was important for them to find an Australian solution and they found this with Fibre King.
Fibre King, also an Australian owned company has been designing, manufacturing and installing reliable, robust and cost-effective packaging machinery to Australian manufacturers for over 70 years and was the first Australian company to offer a locally designed and manufactured end of line packaging solution in 1950. Fibre King palletisers in particular have a proven reputation for being extremely reliable, efficient and economical in their applications, with some in operation for over 40 years. So, when Tru Blu went looking for a palletising solution, Fibre King was on the top of the list of preferred suppliers.
“Tru Blu have a wide variety of palletising solutions across the business and of all the solutions present, the Fibre King machines have been installed for the longest time and have provided the best all-round experience from purchase, installation, operation, and maintenance throughout the years.” David Pryor, Executive Director – Lean Manufacturing - Tru Blu Beverages
The Machine:
A customised Fibre King CP30R Mechanical Palletiser was the solution offered to Tru Blu based on its simple, robust and easy to use design and cost-effective nature. Cases arrive at the start of an inclined conveyor narrow face leading and are taken to a high-level row forming conveyor. The extended row forming conveyor is fitted with a gate and brake system for indexing cases into the machine. An actuated turner orientates one case at a time into the required format, once collated in a row, a 90° overhead row pusher slides the cases over a split layer deck assembly, pallets are automatically dispensed and moved onto a lift assembly ready for loading. Once a full layer of cases is formed, the stripper plate opens up allowing the layer to drop onto the waiting pallet. Layer by layer the pallet is formed until the desired layer count is reached. Completed pallets are then indexed out of the machine onto the gravity pallet outfeed conveyor ready for forklift removal. No Fulltime Operator is required to operate the machine but does require forklift assistance for delivery of empty pallets and removal of loaded pallets.
"This new palletising solution has increased reliability and reduced downtime as the previous machine had design limitations that inhibited efficient operation on the smaller pack sizes.” Says David Pryor.
“There has been a shift toward robotic palletising and while we support this for the right application it is still important to consider and understand the benefits that mechanical palletising systems can offer. For starters, they are a less complex solution allowing for quicker turnaround times, quick installs and commissioning times, they are also generally more compact and require less technical maintenance reducing downtime. Mechanical palletisers are ideally suited to one production line which runs multiple products individually throughout the course of the day. Our CP30R Mechanical Palletiser was the ideal solution for Tru Blu Beverages and we are certain it will serve them well over the years.” James Windsor, CEO – Fibre King.
Install:
Fibre King installed and commissioned the palletiser in Tru Blu’s Bundamba facility in November 2020. “Over the many years I have been in the beverage industry I have had few installs and commissioning’s go as smoothly as this one. Your team were super professional with both the install and the training. Congratulations on a job well done!!” - David Medley, QLD Operations Manager - Tru Blu Beverages.
