Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 21 2018 | Page 49

FIPA in practice: Restack packages and sacks by pressing a button Ergonomic workplaces take the strain off personnel while increasing productivity in commissioning. IKEA Components in Slovakia also realized this and improved working conditions using FIPA handling solutions. Thanks to the flexible FIPA solution, the company can adjust perfectly to ever changing product and process variants. At IKEA Components s.r.o. in Malacky north of Bratislava/Slovakia, packages and plastic sacks weighing up to 35 kg are transferred from one pallet to another. This has always been rather heavy work. IKEA was thus looking for a versatile ergonomic solution that would increase their productivity. FIPA and local partner O.P.O. (http://www.opo.sk/) impressed IKEA with a flexible handling solution for five workplaces. The complete package included consultation, delivery and on- site installation. Complete solution with FIPALIFT Smart For each workplace the solution includes a jib crane, a FIPALIFT Smart tube lifter with all the accessories and three different systems that ensure flexible adaptation to the handling task. The particularly ergonomic FIPALIFT Smart tube lifter with a lifting force of up to 65 kg has been optimized for in-house logistics processes. Equipped with a Varioflex® bellows vacuum cup with a diameter of 160 mm, the tube lifter is the ideal solution for transferring and picking packages and boxes. The proven vacuum cup with two hardness ranges, 30° Shore A on the sealing lip and 60° Shore A on the bellows body, ensures reliable handling even in case of slight load unevenness, thanks to the very soft sealing lip. The lifting device with the load can be easily rotated 360° for precision depositing. The FIPALIFT picks up or deposits the load at the touch of a button. Thanks to the flexible change-over system, the lifting device is quickly The system operates around the clock and seven days a week. adapted to the respective handling task. IKEA Components s.r.o. is full of praise for The vacuum gripper, consisting of a easy conversion. cross beam and four bellows vacuum cups with a diameter of 75 mm, enables comfortable relocation of cardboard the FIPALIFT tube lifter’s versatility and The short conversion times allow personnel to react quickly to different boxes. commissioning tasks. The FIPALIFT extension featuring an oval The delighted process developer says: suction shell with sealing foam, which can be changed even without tools, is suitable for handling sacks or other shrink- “Improving working conditions is very important to us. With the FIPALIFT Smart, FIPA provides a handling solution that wrapped goods. improves ergonomics at the workplace Time is money for logistics productivity.” Faced with increasingly complex www.fipa.com while increasing our company’s challenges, automation needs to deliver peak performance, especially in the warehouse. FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk 49