The aroma of a good logistical system

Requirements

CAFENTO, the leading coffee group formed with Spanish capital, underpins its added value proposition to the market with two key concepts: innovation in products and services, which results in a broad range of references and business formats, and the internationalisation of its business. To meet these challenges, it has put its trust in the experience of ULMA Handling Systems, the logistical engineering firm that has designed and developed the automated solution that will allow the company to improve productivity and increase flexibility.

Proposed solution

The solution designed by ULMA is an installation for automatically maintaining, palletising and baling packets of coffee of different formats with the capacity to absorb the production capacities of packaging machines, whilst also taking into account modularity and fractioning considerations.

An automated transport system, comprising 6 automatic collecting systems and 6 transporter systems, has been added to the infrastructure, along with the final palletising station integrated by 2 robots. The possibility of future add-ons, in terms of capacity and automation levels, was also taken into account when planning the installation.

Result

CAFENTO General Corporate Manager, Fco. Menéndez Solis, explains that before having the automatic maintenance system, the internal logistical procedures were based on conventional removal solutions at the base of the machines, with transport to the packing and palletising area, through internal transport systems (roller conveyors, forklift or pallet jacks). In this sense, the main improvement brought about by the new installation is “the possibility of picking and palletising different production configurations on each pallet. This represents a tremendous increase in flexibility, speed and the capacity to react, which will allow us to meet any new challenges“, as the Manager explains.