Page 46 - Packaging News Magazine Sep-Oct 2018

46
LINE CONTROL & AUTOMATION
www.packagingnews.com.au
September-October 2018
Lion invests in agility
Foodmach and Lion partnered on a project to consolidate the beverage maker’s packing lines while increasing their agility. PKN visited the installation at Lion’s Smithfield plant to see the results first-hand.
ION Dairy and Drinks is the compa- ny behind some of Australia’s most iconic juice brands, including Berri, Daily Juice and Just Juice. Hundreds
of thousands of bottles pass through its plant in Smithfield, Sydney, every day – and the
process is now easier and more streamlined than ever, thanks to new kit from Foodmach.
In the face of changing juice con- sumer preferences in Australia, Lion has made a strategic shift to
producing a wider variety of premi- um and specialist beverages.
In effect this means that Lion is producing a greater number of SKUs in a range of PET and HDPE bottle in sizes from 250ml to 3L – but at re- duced volumes for each format. The upshot is that the beverage maker needs fewer production lines but lines that are highly agile, allowing quick changeovers with minimum downtime, while maximising pro- duction efficiency.
The company downscaled four beverage production lines to two, and repurposed some existing equipment along the way, while also integrating a high level of connectiv- ity between all the equipment to bring the factory closer to Industry 4.0 standards.
“The objectives were to create a consolidated and efficient packaging process that allowed us to provide better quality and value to our customers, as well as unlocking the full potential of some of our existing assets,” Michael Riches, line engineer at Lion says. “It essentially reduced four juice bottling lines down to two by turbocharging the secondary and tertiary packaging lines.”
Integration, automation and end- of-line solution specialist Foodmach was chosen to execute the project, that involved the design and supply of two filling lines, including an empty and full bottle conveying sys- tem, the end-of-line Robomatrix pal- letising system for both lines and a centralised high speed, rotary ring Robopac Stretchwrapper.
Foodmach also reintegrated the existing line equipment including
ABOVE: An integrated line control system ensures Lion’s new packaging lines are Industry 4.0 ready.
LEFT: Shrink- wrapped multipacks pass via the spiral conveyor into the cool store for palletising.