Fresh produce wholesaler returns to Conveyor Systems
CSL has installed a conveying and packing system at a national fresh produce wholesaler.
The client wanted the operations in the existing and new sites to continue to a high level performance, to enable quality fresh produce to be order picked and delivered to UK caterers, hotels and restaurant chains on a daily basis from their chilled warehouse.
The outline of the operation includes the handling of incoming bulk deliveries of pallet loads of fresh fruit and vegetables that are to be decanted and order picked using the CSL conveyor system, to one of several stainless steel decked packing tables.
Alongside the packing table is a four tier powered roller conveyor that is designed to feed and present different heights of plastic trays (Small/Medium/Large), allowing the operative to select the appropriate sized container according to the order volume. Film is used to line the plastic trays and over-wrap completely for protection. The second tier conveyor is inline with each packing table, enabling packers to easily slide full transit trays on to the line-shaft conveyor to be transported for palletising and dispatch.
CSL also integrated an automatic waste removal belt conveyor system to transport waste around the warehouse at an overhead level to a central collection point for recycling.
Above this packing area, fresh produce is also picked on a mezzanine floor and CSL had to co-ordinate the project, designing a system to provide accumulation and a controlled flow of completed and packed orders through to palletising and dispatch.
In order to provide a continuous, smooth vertical transfer of plastic trays from the mezzanine to ground floor, CSL provided a cost effective solution, installing a powered spiral conveyor. Featuring a space saving small footprint, the spiral conveyor is designed to support a high throughput and continuous vertical product flow, with low maintenance requirements and long operational life. This versatile conveyor can also handle a large variety of load types and sizes.
The clients Operations Director reported, “Prior to the installation of the new system, we manually picked product from racking and shelving to fulfill orders. CSL has provided a conveying and packing system that has increased efficiencies, improved order picking times and has given us the capacity to meet increased demand for our services with the same number of staff.”
