Vacuum assisted lifting aids productivity

Premier Tech Systems and Automation Pty Ltd
Thursday, 27 October, 2011

Eighteen months ago Kockums Bulk Systems was contracted by Zetco to supply Tawi vacuum-assisted lifting systems for improved handling of boxes and cartons of valves.

Zetco wanted to improve handling operations when a shipping container arrived into the warehouse for unloading. The main purpose was to minimise the dangers during the manual lifting of these boxes, and to improve productivity.

Typically, when a container is unloaded, the packing list needs to be checked to confirm model and part numbers. There are generally 20 pallets in the container, each holding 30 boxes and each box weighing an average of about 26 kg.

For this purpose a Tawi system was installed at the unloading location to move the boxes from the pallet. The vacuum-assisted lifting system offers great ease when picking a carton and relocating it quickly, without any physical effort.

Floor mounted column, lifting boxes, with vacuum pump mounted on the wall behind An impressive outcome from the introduction of the Tawi system for unloading containers was the improvement in productivity. Previously it had taken two staff members two days to achieve the task and now one person completes the job in about a day. The contrast in staff attitude is also uplifting, as all seek the task, instead of being ‘busy’ on other work with the previous laborious manual system.

Apart from the lifting protection afforded the staff, Steve McAndrew the Warehouse Manager advised that another great outcome was that urgent product requests were 100% able to be delivered the day the container arrived, creating an improvement of generally two days.

Further down the line, valves are being repacked into Zetco boxes, then stacked on a pallet. The twist and turn motions required, identified a further application for vacuum-assisted lifting. Here we see a 40 kg lift model with a 5 m swing arm
Another system was also installed at the dispatch location.

The recently introduced Cobra model suits these applications best, allowing high-speed grab and movement. Particularly when there are differing masses to lift, the Cobra balance is automatically controlled by the operator.

Other safety upgrades in the facility have led to the replacement of ladders by Crown Wave machines.

Here we have an example of a health and safety upgrade, and productivity increase working hand in hand.