Inspection and Palletization:
Automated Material Handling System for Food Industry
PROJECT SCOPE
Engineering, Electrical & Mechanical Installation, Controls Design & Programming
INDUSTRY
Food Distribution
Summary: SilMan Material Handling – a systems integrator and warehouse equipment distributor – was engaged to provide an automated material handling system solution to inspect and palletize cartons for a leading food distributor.
Material Handling Challenges for Cold Chain Food Distributor
Like all forward-facing businesses, the client proactively works to sustain their competitiveness and continually re-imagines their systems for improvement.
In this case, their previous food distribution system conveyed picked cartons from storage directly to shipping. However, with increased demand for their products, the added volume had the secondary effect of delivering an increasing number of cartons that were flawed in one way or another, and therefore unfit for transport.
The solution proposed and provided by SilMan introduces a new automated material handling system for package inspection and sortation system that culls cartons needing manual attention from the outbound traffic.
The new system also expands the future potential of the facility. With this updated technological infrastructure, the client is one step closer to moving toward an automated storage retrieval system (ASRS) if desired.
Material Handling System Implementation
Global pandemic poses unique challenges
The new inspection and sortation system integration delivers higher throughput with increased speed and efficiency in the shipping department. In particular, with the improved percentage of “transport-ready” cartons arriving in shipping, bottlenecks at the palletizing stations have been all but eliminated.
The design process was marked by a high degree of interaction from the earliest meetings.
David Birmingham, who led the engineering team on the project, corroborated this assessment, saying “the success of this project is a direct result of a high degree of collaboration between the client’s engineering and project group and a variety of team members at SilMan.”
This interactive environment continued throughout the execution phase, despite Coronavirus shutdowns.
“The way everyone came together and showed their tenacity on this project really encouraged me,” engineer Garret King said. “Especially knowing the sacrifices being made in terms of time away from home, and dealing with constantly changing COVID-19 guidelines.”
Speak to a key team member on this project
Meet David Rebata
For more information about this project or related topics, contact David by email or call directly at 510.409.6567.
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Key Elements for Success
SilMan’s real-time, cloud-based project management platform was an invaluable tool to coordinate multiple teams and changing production schedules, due to COVID-19 disruptions.
The system allows all participants to daily maintain and access all data, updates, and milestones throughout the project’s life.
Inspection and Palletization
Integration of a new food distribution system solutions
The material handling system provided for the food producer was designed for a turnkey approach. This allows SilMan Industries to provide design, implementation, and execution for seamless integration of the overall project.
Scanning and Routing Operation
The SilMan solution addresses the primary challenge of the existing system: packages arriving in the shipping area that are not fully prepared for shipment, such as unreadable shipping labels, or damaged cartons that are not able to be handled by the palletizing robots in the shipping department.
The packages to be rejected were to be identified for the following characteristics:
- broken or leaking boxes
- crushed boxes
- incorrect label placement or scans
- over-packed cartons
To combat this issue, SilMan created an integrity checkpoint with a high-speed camera. Boxes identified with issues listed above are coded as “failed” and are diverted from the main conveyor path and delivered to a quality control team member at a work station.
QC personnel inspect the boxes and either correct the issue and re-induct the box into the system, or fail the box and send it down a secondary conveyor to be repackaged. Once the carton has been reconciled, it is then re-inducted into the system.
Once a package successfully passes the camera scan, it is routed to the appropriate destination in the shipping area.
Design, Engineering, and Project Execution
In-house engineer team plays a key role in food distribution system success
SilMan engineering provided project management and engineering support during both the engineering and project execution phases.
The Tupelo, Mississippi-based engineering team provided mechanical and electrical system design.
SilMan engineers managed all site activities and personnel throughout the duration of the project, supported by the project coordinator team in Tupelo. This includes all site installation and construction, as well as coordinating with client personnel to minimize interruptions to current operations.
The team also collaborated with other client vendors involved with the project.
SilMan directed all work onsite, providing Mechanical and Electrical installation services, and Electrical and Controls integration.
Cold Chain Food Distribution Center
Automated Material Handling System Installation – Work in Progress
Photo credit: Matthew Aultman (SilMan Industries)
Meet our Valued Partners
Equipment employed in food distribution center project
We are grateful to our top-grade partners for their vital contribution to this material handling system for the food industry.
Partner |
Contribution |
|---|---|
| Conveyor Concepts | Accumulation Conveyors, Merges and Special Devices |
| Interroll-Portec | Portec Belt Curves and Spurs |
| Cognex | Cameras and Scanners |
| Hytrol | Conveyor and Shoe Sorters |
| Intralox | Belting |
| Steel King | Selective Racking |
About SilMan
SilMan Industries (previously SilMan Construction) is based in San Leandro, Calif. Founded in 2008, the firm operates nationwide in three divisions – Construction, Material Handling, and Site Services – and partners with “best in class” companies nationwide to provide integrated solutions in the Industrial, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Public Works sectors. For more information, please visit www.silmanindustries.com/about.
SilMan material handling warehouse equipment for food industry distribution centers is considered in the industry as the best in both design and building. SilMan is national, serving all cities. This includes: Oakland. Los Angeles. Phoenix. Dallas. Chicago. Atlanta. Bowling Green. Charlotte. Huntsville. Indianapolis. Seattle. Kansas City.
