Conveyor Efficiency for Beverage Warehouse Operations

Situation
Our client, who produces canned beverages, was experiencing operational challenges with their E-80 Conveyor. They were seeking an assessment to pinpoint areas for mechanical reliability improvement, validate successful processes, and provide a thorough assessment with clear and actionable recommendations to increase throughput efficiency. They had identified possible causes for their operational shortcomings but were seeking external validation to confirm and possibly uncover anything they had overlooked. Their facility, in partnership with another prominent company, fills, seals, labels, and stores cans, using a straightway conveyor to move pallets to the second floor and into the operations building. Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) then transport pallets to storage bays, creating an integrated, yet intricate, workflow.

Solution
Oxford provided a team of two (a Project Manager/Automation Engineer and Electromechanical Field Service Engineer) to perform an agnostic assessment of the pallet conveyor, automation, and AGV systems supporting production and distribution operations to identify bottlenecks, reliability risks, and operational inefficiencies and identify recommended changes.  Their pallet conveyor system is segmented into functional zones, which were evaluated with an independent inspection, while appraising their performance capabilities.

The zones are:

• Ground Buffer Zone
• Elevator Zones
• Bridge Conveyor Zones
• Distribution Zones
• Additional Automation Systems in Scope (e.g., automated forklift systems)

Result
The Oxford team delivered a comprehensive assessment that included a data-driven improvement roadmap for recommended changes. The Executive presentation to the client provided assessment findings of our observations, opportunities, and recommendations, which included:

• Section bottleneck and reliability map
• Conveyor, elevator, and divertor performance analysis
• Mechanical condition assessment
• Optimization roadmap and budget map

The impartial assessment provided validated the client’s internal findings as well as uncovered additional areas for consideration and optimizations available. The client is considering extending our partnership to make improvements and execute new conveyor solutions that can yield significant efficiency gains within their operations, setting a new capital plan for their future $2B expansion site in NC.