CONTROL & AUTOMATION
BOOSTING PACKING SPEED
BRILLOPAK
ERGONOMIC PAKSTATION EASES MORRISONS’
MANUAL CASE LOADING PAINS
Potato packs are fed at the optimal ergonomic height to mitigate repetitive strain injuries
Replacing the manual turntable-style potato
case loading system at Morrisons’ Rushden
depot with two award-winning Brillopak
PakStations has boosted packing speed. Most
importantly, the systems have made the job
more manageable and ergonomic for the
team members performing this repetitive
end-of-line task.
Having automated two packing lines around
the same time, site manager Andy Day says
that the thing that shocked him most about
the PakStation was “how much it transformed
the efficiency and tidiness of the packing line
and surrounding area.”
From the outset, the Rushden team was
resolute that the turntable had to go. “It
wasn’t right for the 66 million kilos of potato
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packs that are processed by the depot
annually, or our people that had to bend,
twist and turn to maintain a consistent
packing pace,” states Andy. lead to bags dropping on the floor, product
damage, split bags and waste. Obviously, this
doesn’t align with Morrisons fresh produce
quality strategy.”
The rate in which potato packs come through
the back end automated packing system
previously meant operatives manually
loading straight from the lines onto
conventional pallets, simply couldn’t keep
up. Not only was the backlog a team stressor,
packs would start to pile up and bump
around the roundtable. Presentation of the
packs in the crates was also erratic. Being a seven-day-a-week operation handling
up to 14 product SKUs at any one time, extra
capacity was clearly needed. Yet, physically
fitting more people around the turntable
to pack faster was unfeasible. Space just
wouldn’t allow it.
More people and product friendly
Protecting workforce welfare by reducing
the duration people work on a specific task,
coupled with enhancing comfort during the
pick and pack process were among the key
catalysts for introducing semi-automated
packing, reflects Andy.
Andy recalls: “Every time a pack rotates
around the table, it’s moving. The longer it sits
on the roundtable and moves for, the greater
the risk of product accumulations. This can