Pallet logistics fully automated right into the truck
At Envases Öhringen GmbH, a new MSK intralogistics system is used to automatically direct packaged goods on pallets right into the truck. The control concept and all the conveying technology were made in-house as a turnkey project and tailored to the complex requirements of this tin and can manufacturer.
Complex requirements
Looking at Envases’ bill of specifications, it rapidly became clear that the solution for this manufacturer of tins and cans for the food and beverage industries needed to be a fully automated system. The entire pallet logistics system from production right into the truck needed to be fully automatic and equipped with data networking. At Envases, products are packaged on Euro, single-use and chemical pallets both made of wood and plastic, with a wide variety of load dimensions. One of the challenges of this automation project was to provide this product mix smartly and fully automatically, while considering the full exploitation of truck capacity.
A turnkey solution
Envases was able to determine in advance that MSK was the right partner for this inquired project. A reference visit to the BAYER plant in Dormagen, where a full-scale MSK system automating the entirety of pallet logistics and with interfaces to the ERP system has been in operation for years now, made it clear just how comprehensive MSK’s engineering and production competence is. MSK not only produces its own pallet conveyors, but also develops the entire control concept, with layout design and programming, in-house. From the concept phase to assembly and commissioning of the entire system on site – as a turnkey provider, MSK realizes the whole project from a single source. Envases already knew the quality of MSK systems from an earlier project: since 1999, the Öhringen plant has had a flexible MSK shrink hood machine for stably securing loads on pallets. Now, Envases chose MSK again for other fields part of intralogistics like pallet handling. With the elimination of manual labor, automation contributes to increased occupational safety and risk reduction in intralogistics.
Dynamic pallet sorting for efficient loading
The new MSK conveying system transports loads on two levels at the Öhringen plant at a peak rate of 90 pallets per hour. Integrated i-points with scanners record pallet data via QR code and store it for the further logistics processes in the EMSY control software. At i-points, faulty loads with illegible QR codes or whose weight or dimensions differ from what was specified are ejected from the line. “One particular feature is the specially developed EMSY program for pallet stacking,” Emin Ilgat, Sales Director at MSK for the building materials and chemicals sector, asserts. “Low pallets that do not exceed a certain height can be stacked with an identical pallet at a pallet stacking station. Pallet stacking takes place to specific criteria. These include e.g. specifications as to which pallet should be underneath or which pallet can be placed on top of another. If, after a defined timespan, no suitable pallet has been found, stacking is not carried out. If stacking takes place, the paired loads are logged as such by the control system,” Emin Ilgat explains.
To pre-sort pallets for optimal use of space and weight distribution in the truck, the conveying system has storage areas and a pallet depot where pallets can be paired for loading, collated and grouped as truck transport units. Truck loading finally takes place, also using a fully automated system with two terminals. “The automated loading process increases efficiency in comparison with manual loading and prevents damage to products and vehicles. Reliable loading times and rapid filling of standard trailers or containers improve the overall flow of outgoing goods,” Emin Ilgat adds.
Tailor-made conveying technology
The concept for the entire conveying system was specially developed by MSK to meet the requirements on site and in close collaboration with Envases. It includes numerous rollers and chain conveyors, rotary elements, vertical conveyors and mobile shuttle cars and runs from production to cargo loading on two levels. Pallet transport can take place longitudinally and transversally. “The fact that we were going to implement the control of this logistics system using our own MSK programmers and visualize it with our EMSY software was a decisive criterion for Envases in choosing to award tender to us,” Emin Ilgat reports. “A further advantage was that all the conveyor elements were to be produced by MSK ourselves, not bought in from third-party suppliers. Full in-house manufacture avoids potential interface problems in the system as a whole. Our conveyors are also very long-lived as they are built using premium components,” Ilgat adds, explaining the reasons that played positively in MSK's favor.
When the software makes all the difference
The EMSY software offers Envases comprehensive pallet information tracking across the logistics system as a whole. It stores relevant pallet data which can be scanned in via QR code, meaning pallets can be tracked seamlessly across the entire logistics process. All sections of the conveying system are linked by a unified control system ensuring frictionless communication between them all, including peripheral devices such as scanners or scales. The system also offers an interface with the ERP system, detailed statistics for production, maintenance and faults, and important status information at a glance. 3D graphics and animations make operation particularly easy. The system supports troubleshooting too, and is enabled for remote maintenance.
MSK – Partner of industry for palletizing, conveying, packaging and unpacking systems
For nearly 50 years, the MSK Covertech Group has been one of the leading manufacturers of palletizing, conveying, packaging and unpacking machines to automate the entire pallet handling process from goods receipt to truck loading or to the finished goods warehouse. Today, it has sold over 6,500 systems and has around 600 employees at sites in Germany, France, Hungary, the USA and China. Well-known manufacturers in the most diverse sectors are among its customer base. MSK develops and produces conveying technology and packaging systems with a high level of vertical manufacturing and even controls its systems with its own software.
