A comprehensive machinery safety service from Procter Machine Guarding has helped KHS Kisters deliver a new palletising line to Britvic Ireland, which is said to be the number-one soft drinks company in Ireland by volume, with market-leading brands including Ballygowan, 7UP, Club, Mi Wadi and Robinsons. The company recently contracted KHS Kisters to supply a new palletising line for bottles of soft drinks, and Procter Machine Guarding was tasked by KHS Kisters with providing the guarding. One of the main reasons why Procter won the work was because it offered a comprehensive machinery safety service and not just the supply of custom designed machine guards and perimeter machine guards.
Depending on the project, Procter can work with other companies to provide risk assessment, design, system integration, installation and commissioning services in addition to the provision of close-fitting and perimeter guarding. For the Britvic project, Procter worked with ISS Safety Ltd to provide guarding, safety devices and control panels, complete with on-site installation. KHS Kisters integrated the safety devices within the machine’s overall control system.
The palletising line is based around a robot, with an infeed conveyor for bottles and another conveyor onto which empty pallets are loaded by a forklift truck. Bottles are initially marshalled into groups, which are then conveyed to the robot for stacking on pallets. A cardboard pad is placed automatically between layers of bottles and when the pallet is full, it is conveyed to a wrapper. The wrapped pallet continues along the conveyor to a labeller, then on to the collection point ready for a forklift truck.
For guarding the palletising line, the scope of supply included 75 linear metres of Basic Satech perimeter machine guarding 2000mm high in the standard black powder-coated finish, plus one pair of double gates and four further gates. Most of the guarding and gates were standard products, but there were some fence panels and gates that were bespoke or modified to suit the palletising line. All of the gates were fitted with key switch interlocks. There were also four safety light curtains and two inductive loops installed on the floor to detect the presence of forklift trucks at the pallet loading and unloading points.
For KHS Kisters, working through Procter Machine Guarding for all aspects of the machine safeguarding meant that project management was simplified and it avoided the potential for disputes between suppliers over roles and responsibilities. Overall, it proved to be a very cost-effective way to work, with lower project management overheads, reduced project risk and high standards of quality and customer service.
Email Procter Machine Guarding at info@machinesafety.co.uk or telephone us to discuss any requirements relating to the company’s comprehensive machinery safety service.