A no-grainer

I’m fairly certain that at some point in our lives we have all picked up a loaf of bread. Whether white, wholemeal or rye the choice is yours. The point is, when we pick up a loaf of bread and chuck it into the shopping cart, chances are none of us think the loaf of bread is heavy. You may disagree, but an average loaf of bread weighs around 600g which is around two-fifths as heavy as a human brain and you carry that around all day every day.

Warburtons’ bakery up in Scotland were looking for a solution to help them move long lines of bread trolleys packed with approximately 400 loaves ready to be hurled into our shopping trolleys. Working through MasterMover’s partner in Inverurie, we provided a custom unit designed for moving 250kg bread trolleys. The production staff at this leading bread supplier were previously manually pushing long trains of the trolleys weighing in excess of 250kg (that's around 200 times as heavy as a human brain.)

With a 500kg capacity, our custom SM100 TOW unit was adapted with a cushioned push plate which is now allowing the effortless handling of the bread trolleys at the facility. The end result is that, as well as removing manual handling on site, the new solution is also supporting productivity, with capacity being increased due to the ability to handle more trolleys.

Since its introduction, the SM100 TOW’s capability in moving products safely and efficiently on site has led the Warburton’s team to place an order for another unit.

Martin Moore of Warburtons said:

“The new machine is being used in the area where bread comes off the production line. The products are placed into different lines, ready for distribution based on postal regions. We’ve been really pleased with the results so far.”

With a MasterMover unit, a single person can exercise complete control even in tight spaces with slippery and sloping floors. Production downtime and delays are also reduced to create fast and Lean manufacturing environments that still deliver improved safety for employees.

The food and drink industry is the UK's biggest manufacturing sector, larger than the automotive and aerospace industry combined. With savvy consumers at every level of the supply chain, food and beverage manufacturers need to ensure safety compliance and efficiency are well under wraps at every level.

If you'd like to find out how electric tugs could help reduce manual handling in your operations, drop me a message to discuss.

Lucy Cresswell

[email protected]

Source

FDF Org - Our Industry At A Glance 2019