Incorporating a second user robotic arm, Pacepacker’s economical Blu-Robot range comes with over 20 different end effectors to suit bespoke pick and place applications from tubs, trays, netted products, pots and bulk bags, with pick-up speeds of 30 cycles per minute. Throughput speed will depend on the robot selected for each application. “We realise that new automation systems can be cost prohibitive particularly for low volume packers or seasonal producers,” explains Dennis Allison, MD of Pacepacker Services “To address this the second-user Blu-Robot pick and place system, which is typically half the cost of a new robot, presents an affordable option for smaller packers looking to benefit from automation and still achieve a realistic ROI.”

As a robotics systems integrator, and an active supporter of BARA’s* Automating Manufacturing Programme which aims to increase robot uptake in the UK, Pacepacker launched a pre-owned Blu-Robot palletising system in 2011, which provided both automation-shy SME manufacturers and seasonal packers an economical alternative to first-user systems. The success of this initiative has led to the launch of the Blu-Robot pick and place system, as Dennis explains: “Pick and place is an area of automation which has historically been widely overlooked due to the complexity of packing irregular products. However it is also a labour intensive operation which can lead to product wastage due to human error.”

The pre-owned/second user robotic arm, typically Fanuc, originates from the automotive industry and approximately 35% of the way through its expected 100,000 operational hour lifespan. Pacepacker reprogrammes, services, paints and fits the appropriate end effector to the system ready for its new occupation before installing this system with full servicing, spares and a one year warranty. “I’d defy anyone to identify that we’ve installed a pre-owned robot; it came delivered as new,” said Blu-Robot customer and potato grower/packer Preva Produce Managing Director Ian Anderson.

Winner of six prestigious industry awards in 18 months for their achievements in automation solutions, export and customer service, Pacepacker’s second user economical Blu-Robot pick and place range was recently launched by their local Braintree MP Brooks Newmark who cited, “Pacepacker is a great example of British innovation and technological excellence.”
*the British Automation and Robot Association

Pacepacker Services

Paul Wilkinson, Business Development Manager

Tel: 01371 811544

Email: paul.wilkinson@pacepackerservices.com

www.pacepacker.com

Epson, Europe’s leading POS manufacturer*, is launching two new wireless portable printers from its TM Intelligent range – the Epson TM-P60II and the Epson TM-P60II Peeler. Both models feature Epson’s ePOS-Print technology for flexible, user-friendly portable printing and have been designed to help retail and hospitality businesses deliver faster, more efficient, customer service.

Using Epson ePOS-Print technology, users are able to print receipts, tickets, coupons and labels almost anywhere, directly from tablet PCs and other mobile devices**. This can be done using any web browser which supports HTML5, without the need for PCs, servers or drivers, and can be easily integrated into current IT systems.

The Epson TM-P60II is a portable receipt printer that allows businesses to quickly print receipts and tickets at the point of sale as well as in the back office or kitchen environments.

The Epson TM-P60II Peeler is a portable label printer, ideal for POS, shelf labelling and product tagging. This allows businesses to quickly and easily create labels at point of sale or in stock rooms.

In addition, fast print speeds of up to 100mm/sec mean businesses are able to serve customers quickly without delays. Drop-in paper loading means it is easier to replace receipt paper and labels quickly as well.

Adrian Clark, head of sales for Business Systems at Epson UK, says: “We’ve designed these printers to support busy retail and hospitality environments, extending our current range of printers for these markets. Not only are users able to print wirelessly, the battery life is really long too – up to 46 hours in Bluetooth mode. With the optional charging unit, up to four batteries can be charged simultaneously, ensuring a backup for multiple printers is always on hand.”

The Epson TM-P60II is available from March 2013.

* Source: Futuresource consulting, 2010

** ePOS-Print is available in WLAN mode only

Epson

http://global.epson.com/

The range, which features an extra 79 products, includes a wide selection of new ‘essential’ items, offering ethically sourced, competitively priced products without compromising on quality or safety. New lines include more standard workwear items, a full range of weatherwear items such as waterproofs and thermal underwear. The footwear range has also been expanded significantly to offer better choice. Also new is the range of safety matting, torches and absorbents which have been added to the workplace safety offering.

The new lines are in addition to the existing 69 products, which include safety boots, hi vis hazardwear, safety and disposable gloves, safety helmets, goggles and earmuffs as well as first aid kits, cleaning cloths and other essential items for the workplace. The Arco Essential products are suitable for workers in a wide variety of industries, including the food, construction and manufacturing sectors. Each product is entry level and offers basic functionality whilst remaining fit for purpose and good quality.

Business Development Director Neil Jowsey commented, “With Arco Essentials we are giving our customers competitively priced products and excellent value, but they can rest assured they do not have to compromise on quality. As members of the BSIF Registered Safety Supply Scheme our customers can be confident that our products are tested to the relevant standards and with the supply chain accreditation that they have come to expect from Arco.”

The extended Arco Essentials range is available now. To find out more about the essential protection for you and your budget, call your local branch, visit any of the 40 trade counters throughout the UK or go to www.arco.co.uk/essentials.

Arco

www.arco.co.uk

The Gourmet’s 3 volt lithium battery will allow up to 3000 hours continuous use or, if used two hours a day, seven days a week, a minimum of ten years.  Each unit incorporates a stainless steel, food penetration probe (Ø3.5 x 110 mm) that conveniently folds back into the side of the instrument when not in use, rotating through 180 degrees, allowing the user to store or transport the thermometer safely.  

The Gourmet is available in six colours, ideal for many different food applications. These colour-coded thermometers can form an essential part of HACCP or Due Diligence procedures, being used for different food types or preparation areas, reducing the risk of cross contamination.

The Gourmet features a CalCheck 0°C test function.  The CalCheck is activated by pressing both the ‘on/off’ and ‘hold’ buttons simultaneously, at the time of switching the unit on. This feature allows users to verify the accuracy of their thermometer on a regular basis, without the need for additional equipment.

The Gourmet thermometer is economically priced, at £20.00 each exclusive of VAT and carriage.

Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd

Tel: 01903 202151

Email sales@etiltd.co.uk

Paul Lyons, Product and Procurement Manager for Gloves at Arco, explained, “Whilst hand injuries are not generally life-threatening, they can seriously impact a workers quality of life and their ability to work. The key to keeping hands safe at work is not just the appropriate level of protection, but also comfort. If gloves are too heavy, rigid or bulky they might cause the wearer’s hands to sweat more, cramp or grow tired quickly and this raises non-compliance issues. No matter how protective the safety gloves, they are ineffective if workers remove them because they are uncomfortable. In response to end-user research, we have launched the new Arco Comfort Range that offers the wearer protection whilst retaining both comfort and functionality.”

The Arco Comfort Range features a selection of gloves suitable for a variety of applications and have each been manufactured from the thinnest, most lightweight yarns, offering protection against mechanical risks, sharp objects and thermal hazards. The ergonomic glove designs place increased emphasis on comfort through precision manufacturing and cutting edge technology. There are four gloves in the range, each suitable for a range of working conditions and each glove has been tested and approved to meet all relevant European safety standards.

Cut Grip Comfort

Ideal for any environment where sharps are present, the dexterity of the glove means you can benefit from cut 5 level protection without having additional thickness or bulk. The lightweight, flexible 15g liner has been woven from highly cut resistant yarns so is ideal for any environment where sharps are present but flexibility is needed. The cut resistant liner has been coated with foam nitrile which provides an excellent grip in wet, dry and even oily conditions. The gloves are dexterous enough for use in the automotive sector, robust enough for use in construction and are fluid repellent which makes them suitable for oily working environments such as manufacturing.

Comfort Light PU

This robust working glove includes a lightweight 15g liner coated with PU, a tough material that provides good abrasion resistance whilst retaining flexibility. The fabric has elastic properties which ensure a good and comfortable fit whilst ensuring hands have freedom to move. The fabric allows skin to breathe and has fluid repellent properties to help keep hands both cool and clean. This glove is ideal for environments where a glove is required for protection but dexterity for fine-handling applications, such as light engineering or small parts assembly.

Comfort Light Latex

This glove is lightweight, fluid repellent, abrasion resistant and breathable. It includes a lightweight 15g liner coated with latex, a robust, pliable material that provides an excellent grip in wet or dry conditions. The elastic properties of the glove ensure that the glove stays flexible and comfortable and but includes fluid repellent properties to help keep hands dry and clean. This glove is ideal when a more robust level of protection is required, such as when working in construction, engineering or manufacturing environments.

Touchscreen Comfort

Most industrial gloves fail to work when used with touch screen technologies, such as when trying to use a tablet device to log deliveries in a warehouse or communicating with other workers across a construction site with a mobile phone. This new glove is as effective as bare fingertips when using touch screen technologies, a first in the industrial market, and is the only touchscreen glove that meets a series of European industrial safety standards. The gloves are lightweight, dexterous, fluid repellent and offer both thermal and abrasion protection. The gloves also include an ambidextrous dotting pattern for good grip and cost in use benefits.

Arco

www.arco.co.uk/comfort

Communication between drivers and distribution personnel in loading bays can be poor. The Combilok was developed exclusively to reduce the risk of unintentional vehicle movement on loading bays and offers a ‘safety net’ against poor communication by holding vehicles in one place until loading or unloading is completed. Not only does this improve safety, it also eliminates damage to expensive goods and equipment and helps guard against theft. During operation, the Combilok is fully interlocked: the loading bay door cannot be opened until the Combilok is in position and the Combilok cannot be released until the door is closed again and it is safe to drive away. Totally automatic in operation, the Combilok also overcomes any language difficulties that may arise with drivers delivering from all over the world.

Next Distribution chose Stertil Stokvis to provide vehicle restraint systems at each of its twelve UK distribution centres. The company trialled a number of competitive units over the course of a year and Stertil Stokvis’s universal Combilok performed the most successfully.

Stertil Stokvis has installed a total of 260 Combilok units at every loading bay serving Next’s sites which are responsible for almost a million dock movements annually. The company has also specified another four Combiloks for installation at a new recycling centre.

Commenting on the Combilok’s successful trial at the company’s Emsall Way site, Next Distribution’s Head of Engineering, David Swinbank, said, “The Combilok was definitely the most versatile unit we tried, making it ideal for the wide range of vehicles in both our fleet and those of our suppliers. The Combilok is competitively priced and the installations have been very straightforward, keeping disruption to a minimum.”

Providing unrivalled efficiency and reliability, the Combilok helps companies to fulfil their health and safety obligations in loading bays. The system accommodates most types of commercial vehicles including those with tail lifts, mudguards, underrun protection bars or side skirts. Also, its ease of assembly on smooth surfaces like stelcon plates means that it’s ideal for both new and existing sites. Stertil Stokvis has also designed the Combilok system with a minimal number of moving parts thus making it safe, simple and inexpensive both to install and maintain.

Stertil UK Limited

Tel: 0870 770 0471

www.stertiluk.com

Bonmarché, the UK’s largest value womenswear retailer for women aged 50+ years, has improved the safety of its loading and unloading operations with the adoption of Castell’s Salvo™.

The interlocking drive-away prevention system has been installed on all seven loading bays at Bonmarché’s Grange Moor head office, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Grange Moor, Bonmarché’s only distribution centre, handles an average of 140,000 garments a day, although this rises to 200,000 at peak times.

Third-party drivers arriving at Grange Moor report to security and receive documentation explaining how the Salvo™ system operates. They park in a holding area, where they are met by a supervisor who checks that they understand the information they have been given. Drivers are then asked to reverse into a particular loading bay, before disengaging their engine and fitting either a Salvo™ Susie or SGL lock to their vehicle’s exposed emergency airline coupling. This action effectively immobilises the trailer and releases a key, which the driver hands to a member of the warehouse staff. Inserting and turning the key in the control panel located next to the bay door powers up the bay and enables the door to be raised. Once the dock leveller has been correctly positioned, the driver is asked to pull the cab away, park in the holding area and wait there until further notice while unloading takes place.

Goods-out follows a similar procedure, except that Bonmarché’s warehouse staff fit the Salvo™ Susie or Salvo™ Club, an interlocking steering wheel lock, to the vehicle prior to loading.

The Health & Safety Executive booklet ‘Warehousing and storage: A guide to health and safety’ recommends interlocks as a safe system of work to combat drive-aways. Salvo™ also features as an example of a safe system of work in the Freight Transport Association’s ‘Loading dock safety guide’, produced in conjunction with the Institution of Occupational Safety & Health.

Castell Safety International Ltd

Jason Reed

Tel: 020 8200 1200

Email: jreed@castell.com

www.salvosafe.com

www.castell.com

New ESR 5200 Series Reach Trucks with OCS for safety, productivity

New Crown products being launched at IMHX 2013 are designed to enhance operator efficiency, improve safety and save energy. All models of Crown’s new ESR 5200 Series of reach trucks feature OCS – Crown’s intelligent Optimised Cornering Speed – which detects whether the reach truck is driving into or out of a curve and adjusts speed and acceleration accordingly. On display will be the new ESR 5220 narrow chassis reach truck and the ESR 5280S, capable of handling 1.2-tonne loads at 12-metre elevations.

New WP 3000 Series Powered Pallet Trucks

As with all Crown products, the WP 3000 Series is manufactured using steel covers instead of plastic, ensuring internal components are protected from the rigours of the busy warehouse. Crown’s innovative X10® control handle, combined with the brake override mode for working in tight spaces, provides unrivalled ease of control. Displays will include the WP 3080 – equipped with high lift forks which raise the load by 750mm to give postural relief for operators manually transferring goods from pallet to shelf, thus reducing repetitive strain problems and improving productivity.

New 80v TSP 7000 VNA Turret Truck

Crown’s new 80v TSP 7000 VNA turret truck is capable of lifting loads to heights of 17.2m while performance-enhancing control innovations help operators work more productively, even in aisles only slightly wider than the VNA truck itself.

First showing – SC 5300 Series 3-wheel Electric Counterbalance Forklifts

Integrated technologies that optimise performance, energy consumption and uptime, the SC 5300 Series features Access 1 2 3® patented on-board diagnostics, Crown-built motors, electronic braking, cornering speed control and a choice of hydraulic control levers. Optional Battery Transfer System offers an quick and secure method to exchange batteries.

Infolink® – intelligent wireless Fleet and Operator Management System

Fitted to every truck on the Crown stand, InfoLink® saves time and money by turning real-time and historic data into organised, prioritised and actionable information. InfoLink® can connect with customer’s warehouse management system (WMS) to give a new insight into operator and truck performance; by monitoring movements and picking operations.

Order picking efficiency – with QuickPick Remote Control

Crown’s QuickPick Remote system, available on the GPC order picker, features a remote, wireless control integrated into a glove worn by the operator, which advances the truck to the next pick location without the operator having to enter and exit the truck – offering immense potential efficiency savings.

Crown Equipment

www.crown.com

Polymer Logistics, a leading provider of retail-ready packaging (RRP) solutions, has recently introduced Roll n’ Pall, a smart pallet that serves as both a pallet and a heavy duty dolly to improve productivity throughout the supply chain and increase in-store product availability.

Roll n’ Pall features an innovative four-wheeled base that can be easily manoeuvred on the retail floor and locked into the sales fixture thanks to its simple foot-activated mechanism. The lock can then be released in the same way. By replacing the use of materials handling equipment, this revolutionary all-in-one pallet packaging and dolly solution not only facilitates safe and easy in-store handling, but significantly reduces the time and cost of replenishment as well, making it beneficial for suppliers and retailers alike.

“The main advantage of having two products in one is the ability to deliver from the production line, via DC, straight to the retail floor, which keeps handling and replenishment costs to a minimum. Empty pallets can subsequently be replaced with full ones, which maximises product availability and noticeably boosts sales”, said Adrian Dale, Managing Director UK, Polymer Logistics. “In trials so far, retailers have more than halved their replenishment times compared to traditional shelf merchandising, which not only reduces costs but also frees up staff to assist customers, thereby improving the overall shopping experience”.

Polymer Logistics is a leading provider of ‘One-Touch/Retail Ready Packaging (RRP)’ solutions. Since 1994, it has been helping retailers worldwide simplify supply chain management by offering them precisely what they need in terms of logistics services and display products – from the factory to the retail floor.

The strength of the brand comes from the Company’s consistent track record in helping clients cut overall costs by up to 60% while simultaneously increasing in-store product availability. Add to that an innovative and flexible approach, expertise in materials handling and logistics management, and a focused commitment to superb service.

Polymer Logistics numbers 9 service centres and wash sites with dedicated local teams in the USA and Europe.

Polymer Logistics

www.polymerlogistics.com

Polyco, a leader in the design, development and supply of quality hand protection, has launched the new Mad Grip range. Lasting up to 10 times longer than traditionally dipped products, the protection zones incorporate an innovative thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). The gloves deliver outstanding anti-abrasion and dry grip performance with high levels of comfort and dexterity.

The Mad Grip range uses ground breaking manufacturing techniques, where the use of an injection moulding process involving TPE (a combination of plastic and rubber) is heated to a liquid form and injected at high pressure into a mould cavity containing the glove liner. The thermoplastic solution then cools, securely bonding to the glove fabric. This process ensures that the exact amount of material is used and the finish is consistent; any extra material can be reground and reused, resulting in very little waste.

This evolutionary manufacturing method is very different to the traditional method of dipping a glove liner into liquid latex or nitrile and results in a glove that has the abrasion resistance of plastic, combined with the elasticity of rubber. The ergonomically designed mould incorporates pre-curved palm and finger construction and provides a comfortable and natural fit, giving extra flexibility in areas where it is needed most. A tread pattern system provides superior dry grip that requires the wearer to exert less force when gripping an object or surface. This reduces the amount of exertion required from the wearer and makes this glove ideal for heavy and repetitive lifting of large or small objects.

A breathable, seamless liner made from a combination of cotton, nylon and spandex helps add to the very high level of comfort created by the mould. The Mad Grip + and Mad Grip Therm benefits from additional thermoplastic coating on the back of the hands, providing extra protection to high risk abrasion areas such as the knuckles.

Outstanding anti-abrasion and dry grip performance, coupled with high levels of comfort and dexterity make the Mad Grip a truly evolutionary glove – you’d be mad not to give it a go!

BM Polyco Ltd

www.polyco.co.uk/madgrip