The Austrian company PHI OIL supplies its customers throughout Europe with high-quality lubricating oils and greases. These are sold in various filling quantities, from 20-litre plastic canisters to 60- and 100-litre steel drums and 1,000-litre IBCs. To ensure consistently high product quality, two semi-automatic FFS 21 filling systems from Fricke are already in use.
When it comes to the efficient, precise filling of high-quality substances such as lubricating oils and greases, cleanliness, drip protection, repeat accuracy and speed play an important role. In order to minimise the containers precisely and quickly on the pallet, the filling process has been enormously optimised, and due to increasing production volumes, PHI OIL put another plant into operation in 2022. The company has been successfully supplying customers throughout Europe with a full range of these products since 1998.
While the products used to be filled into containers using manual processes on a weighing machine, the automation of this process has This means that production orders can now be quickly transferred from the ERP system to the filling control system using a barcode scanner.
„Due to our continuously increasing production volumes, we decided in 2019 to take an important step towards automation and convert our filling line to the FFS 21 from Fricke. The new system has not only led to a perfection of the filling process with corresponding recipe accuracy, but has also helped us to significantly increase our overall filling volumes.“
Thomas Haunsperger, Managing Director of PHI OIL
The FFS 21 saves time during every filling process: The roller-mounted, swivelling telescopic extension ensures that both radial and linear swivel movements interlock, significantly speeding up the positioning of the filling valve over the container. Another advantage is the flexible, automated customisation option during filling. The implemented software allows various filling programmes to be stored in the system control in advance. Details such as the number of layers, target and tare weights, the coarse and fine flow parameters and the pack heights can be saved as a programme. All that remains to be done is to position the packs on the pallet and scan the barcode stored for the specific production order. The The system then automatically adjusts to the product to be filled and positions the valve at the correct height above the respective container. Other important components such as the drip tray, the fine stop contact and the upper stop also adapt to the selected production order. This allows Cost-intensive incorrect filling and damage to the machine as well as dripping of the product due to under-level filling are avoided become.
The filling system also scores points for its user-friendly operation. „Radial or coordinate filling systems work with a fixed pull-out on which the filling head is moved sideways,“ explains Dirk Novak, Sales Engineer at Fricke.
„This makes the handling of such systems very inflexible. In addition, there is a basic height adjustment for containers of different sizes such as canisters or IBCs. This design means that the operator has to use both hands to control the system. Our systems, on the other hand, enable one-handed control of the filling process and therefore more comfortable handling of the machine. The operating handle can be adjusted to the optimum height for the respective operator to protect their back.“
Another added value is derived from the compact design: „The Filling system has a modular design“, emphasises Dirk Novak. „The customer can choose between different models with one, two or three scales. Depending on the model, the space requirement is limited to a minimum of 1.5 x 3 metres to a maximum of 2.5 x 3.5 metres and a height of 3.3 metres. This means that the System also ideal for use in companies with limited space.“ One of many advantages that have also convinced PHI OIL.
„Since 2019, we have optimised our processes enormously by using the two filling systems from Fricke, and we are delighted to be able to meet the continuously increasing demand from our customers even better as a result.“
Thomas Haunsperger
