dsc04268In order to meet the growing demand on the services of Fresh Direct, the company returned to Conveyor Systems Ltd (CSL) who had previous and successfully provided handling solutions in the past. CSL was awarded the contract to design and install a new conveying and packing system to enable quality fresh produce to be order picked and delivered to UK caterers, independent chefs and fine dining restaurants on a daily basis from their chilled “Inspiration” warehouse at Bicester.

From bulk deliveries of produce into Fresh Direct, pallet loads of fresh vegetables and fruit are transported on a twin track gravity roller conveyor into a packing area to be decantered into orders and smaller trays. These trays are then conveyed on gravity roller track to one of several stainless steel decked packing tables, which feature a shared and raised centre shelf and film reel magazine.

Alongside of the packing table is a four tier powered line-shaft 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 content. Film is used to line the plastic trays into which orders are packed and over-wrapped for protection. The second conveyor up from floor level was purposely designed to be inline with the height of each packing table, enabling operatives to easily slide the full transit tray on to the powered roller conveyor to be transported to the palletising and dispatch area.

dsc04245In order to remove packaging waste and ensure that the area is kept clear, CSL designed and installed two automatic 13.5m and 9.5m long waste removal belt conveyors that feed and transport waste at an overhead level to a 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 and installing 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 in either direction, CSL provided a cost effective solution, installing a refurbished 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.

Colin Harris, Operations Director of Fresh Direct 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.

spiral-dsc042521CSL completed the installation to time and within budget, with minimum disruption to the ongoing business. Since being installed the system has operated with a high degree of efficiency and reliability.”

Conveyor Systems Ltd   Steve Graham, Director   Tel: 01283 552255   EMAIL: sales@conveyorsystemsltd.co.uk Website: www.conveyorsystemsltd.com

Comments are closed.