Schmalz Vacuum tube lifter Jumbo Ergo85 available from Millsom Material Handling

Millsom Material Handling, with an example, explain how Vacuum tube lifters can improve productivity in the commissioning department. A company was faced with increasing customer demands for quick delivery of the ordered goods. The customers wanted to order today and take delivery tomorrow, regardless of whether the items they ordered were in stock or not.

The increasing sales volume, the related increase in production capacity and the customer demands made it necessary to reorganise and optimise the warehouse and commissioning procedures. The first step was to erect a new building with a modern commissioning zone. The second step was to look for a realistic and ergonomic material-flow solution. The considerable increase in the number of cardboard boxes containing the goods, with weights of up to 80kg, meant that the employees could not handle everything manually.

While evaluating suitable devices, the company came into contact with the vacuum specialists Schmalz, represented by Millsom Material Handling in Australia and New Zealand. The vacuum handling devices from Millsom Material Handling have improved material-flow and handling operations in many sectors of the industry and have also improved the work of the people employed there. On-site consulting, planning and design of a commissioning system were carried out. The system was based on three so-called single-beam crane systems and three Schmalz vacuum tube lifters of the type JumboErgo 85.

The customer specifications were relatively comprehensive, since the system was to lift cardboard boxes of various sizes, weighing up to 80kg each, from pallets of pallet stacks, to move these to specific commissioning positions in accordance with the customer orders, and to stack them there up to the maximum permissible height.

Each vacuum tube lifter is equipped with a double vacuum gripper, whose suction pads can be adjusted longitudinally to any desired position. This means that cardboard boxes of all sizes can be handled with a single gripping system. The gripper is equipped with a 350mm long tube-cylinder extension as a special accessory, so that single boxes can be lifted from between other stacks of boxes, from the middle of a layer or from skeleton containers. The relatively rigid boxes, which are hooped with plastic, are ideal for quick and safe transport and precise positioning with the aid of the vacuum tube lifter Jumbo. The necessary vacuum is generated by a high-performance vacuum blower.

With the reorganisation of the commissioning zone with vacuum handling technology, the same number of workers can now handle twice as many boxes per day.

Handling is also ergonomic, which helps to preserve the health of the workers and reduces the risk of industrial accidents. Today, the employees are fully convinced of the benefits of safe and easy handling with the aid of the vacuum tube lifters.