Here, a revolutionary concept has been introduced to the market: a POLIMAT palletiser feeds bag stacks to the Ventomatic® Flying Fork-Lift FFL, which automatically loads them directly onto trucks without pallets (Figure 4). This greatly simplifies the logistics, and reduces bag dispatch costs. Moreover, it allows the loading of trucks at the same capacity as the palletiser – in this case, 3600 bags/hr. Space required for the installation is also limited and storage space is minimised, as bags can be directly loaded without passing through the warehouse, solving the challenge of optimised bag dispatch on a limited plot of land. This palletiser/loader combination also enables the plant to operate continuously, as trucks are loaded when present in the loading bay and the palletiser is used when no trucks are present. The palletised stacks are then moved by a forklift to storage using slip-sheets.
This solution has obvious benefits for the user:
Another interesting feature is a bag splitter, which divides the bag flow between the manual loader and the palletiser. This way, the line always operates at full capacity, even when small vehicles are loaded manually, as the excess capacity from the packer is sent to the palletiser.
