CRISTALIA PREMIUM WATER

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "CRISTALIA PREMIUM WATER"

Jerome Patterson
5 years ago
Views:

1 CRISTALIA PREMIUM WATER Automated Palletizing Gives Cristalia a Clear Advantage Case Study

2 Automated Palletizing Gives Cristalia a Clear Advantage The Caribbean s Leading Bottled Water Company Receives Six-month ROI With Entry-level Alvey GS100 Series Palletizer From Honeywell Intelligrated Please note: Honeywell Intelligrated within this case study refers to FKI Logistex. Intelligrated, which was purchased by Honeywell in 2016, acquired the North and South American operations of FKI Logistex in Puerto Rico-based Cristalia Premium Water thrives on the booming Caribbean tourist trade and the region s need for clean, safe water. A popular namesake brand and successful private-label bottling division have helped boost the company s revenue, which is up 400 percent since Recently, high labor costs and inefficiencies in packaging operations were making it increasingly difficult to meet demand while maintaining profits. The company commissioned the director of manufacturing operations, Tom Terrell, to evaluate automated palletizing solutions to help manage the rapid growth. Automation Is the Answer Cristalia s Ponce, Puerto Rico, bottling plant manually palletizes four lines of bottled water shrink-wrapped trays of 16-ounce bottles, multi-packs, five-gallon cooler bottles and one-gallon jugs. However, Terrell and his team knew that the 20,000-square-foot facility only had the space to automate one line. The one-gallon-jug line was the most difficult to palletize manually, with its unstable, 27-pound cases forcing employees to take frequent breaks. Four employees worked in an hourly rotation on this line, while the 16-ounce-bottle and multi-pack lines only required one worker each. Terrell also noted that the one-gallon jugs were the plant s highest producer filling a pallet every two and a half minutes. The team calculated that automating this line would give them the greatest benefits in terms of labor savings and increased efficiency. PAGE 2

3 With the new Alvey palletizing system, we reduced labor costs by 25 percent and increased our total volume by 20 percent, said Terrell. The most important gain came from continuous uptime and uninterrupted shifts now the line never stops. Honeywell Intelligrated Provides a Solution Cristalia s cramped warehouse did not have the space for the accumulation conveyor required for a standard high-speed palletizer. The company turned to automated material handling solutions provider Honeywell Intelligrated and its Alvey GS100 series case palletizer for an affordable way to automate its line within the space constraints of the warehouse. The compact footprint of the Alvey GS100 series eliminates the need for a long infeed conveyor and allows fork truck access to all points of the facility, including incoming materials, warehousing, production discharge and outgoing product without intruding on personnel. Working with Honeywell Intelligrated and Puerto Rico-based packaging equipment representative Inter-Strap Packaging, Cristalia chose the Alvey GS140 model, which features a pallet dispenser and a full-pallet handling discharge for complete automation. The Alvey GS140 gives Cristalia the ability to palletize at rates of up to 30 cartons per minute and includes a touch-screen, operator-interface terminal (OIT) pattern utility. A Six-month ROI Honeywell Intelligrated s Alvey GS140 system has enabled Cristalia to reduce labor costs and heavy lifting, while producing an extra 1,000 cases every shift, for a capital investment of less than $100,000. The Alvey GS140 palletizer also fits completely inside a standard 40-foot shipping container, which saved the company approximately $14,000 on overseas shipping costs alone. A Fully Automated Solution In Cristalia s new system, an existing line shaft roller conveyor brings cases from the one-gallon-jug production line to the infeed of the Alvey GS140. The palletizer forms 16-case layers, with each case containing three one-gallon jugs. The Alvey GS140 then builds the load on the chain conveyor, with either three or four layers, depending on the customer specifications. When the load is complete, it is automatically discharged from the load-build cavity and an empty pallet is conveyed into position. The Alvey GS140 completely automates the line with a 10-pallet capacity lift-and-separate pallet dispenser, using 40- by 48-inch wooden pallets. Empty pallets are loaded by fork truck into the empty pallet dispenser, which automatically feeds another pallet to the pre-stage position for the next load. PAGE 3

Conveyor brings cases from the one-gallon-jug production line to the infeed of the Alvey GS140 palletizer. According to Terrell, Cristalia experienced a six-month ROI with the new palletizer.

4 Conveyor brings cases from the one-gallon-jug production line to the infeed of the Alvey GS140 palletizer. According to Terrell, Cristalia experienced a six-month ROI with the new palletizer. For the same overhead costs, we re getting more cases out the door, he said. The company s president and CEO, David Virginia, could not be happier with the service and support provided by Honeywell Intelligrated. They really stepped up and ensured that we met our goal of 97-percent uptime on the machine following startup, he said. To us, this was the difference between Honeywell Intelligrated being an equipment manufacturer and a business partner. With the new palletizing system, the local bottler is well on its way to meeting its goal of becoming a $100 million bottled water marketer to the Caribbean and the U.S. in the next 10 years. PAGE 4

5 Honeywell Intelligrated CPWCS Honeywell International Inc.

THE HERSHEY COMPANY Hybrid Palletizing Solution Hits Sweet Spot for Hershey

THE HERSHEY COMPANY Hybrid Palletizing Solution Hits Sweet Spot for Hershey Case Study Hybrid Palletizing Solution Hits Sweet Spot for Hershey Honeywell Intelligrated Integrates Alvey Robotic and Conventional