Danone Waters decided to rationalise and make safer the handling of pallets of Evian water at the loading docks before they are loaded onto trains with the help of heavy-duty gravity conveyors from Interroll. One year after the order was placed and with just a few adjustments, the Interroll solution was already handling around 520,000 pallets.
The world's largest bottling plant for natural mineral water has been thoroughly modernised at Danone's historic Publier site in the Haute-Savoie department in the French region of Amphion-les-Bains. France's largest privately owned railway station handles 65 per cent of production; the rest is loaded onto the many lorries in front of the plant. Every day, seven million bottles are 7,000 pallets loaded, which requires robust and well-organised logistics. There must be no disruptions in this constant process.
Simple solution for a complex problem
At the exit of the production plant, automated guided vehicles (AGVs) transport pallets with a weight of up to 1,200 kilograms to the railway loading ramps. These ultra-modern transport vehicles can transport two pallets at the same time. This is where Interroll's solution comes into play: the transport vehicles place the pallets with water bottles on the loading ramps with millimetre precision. Heavy-duty gravity conveyors. These then handle a workload of up to 27 pallets each in 16 channels. The gravity channels transport the pallets to the forklift trucks, which load four of them at a time onto the waiting trains.
Despite its apparent simplicity, this solution is characterised by advanced technology and comprehensive expertise. Interroll's MSC 80 speed controllers (Magnetic Speed Controllers) ensure Constant pallet speed of 0.3 metres per second to ensure the safety of the system, the operators and the goods. At the end of the line, a Mechanical separation solution The new palletiser can pick up four pallets at the same time, which increases operator safety and comfort and enables efficient loading.
Optimised conditions
EVIAN® uses twelve different types of pallets for its markets worldwide. The solution was therefore technically assessed by means of a series of tests (e.g. speed of the idlers, required number of speed controllers, position of the separators). The know-how of the specialists made it possible to optimise the design of the pallets in collaboration with the pallet manufacturers so that they run optimally on Interroll's heavy-duty gravity conveyors.
The system must not with energy The conveyor solution is designed to utilise the force of gravity. Apart from a few wearing parts, it is also maintenance-free. The user incurs Almost no operating costs. The fact that no CO2-emissions was important for a site that became the first climate-neutral Danone site in 2017.
Danone Waters and EVIAN in particular® now appreciate the simplicity and flexibility of the system in a highly technologised industrial environment with very demanding environmental conditions. The gravity-driven pallet conveyor was the ideal solution for EVIAN® ultimately a cost-effective and long-term solution for further brand development.
