Platform for the food and beverage industry
This applies from the production process through the intra-logistics processes - where sugar bags and buckets loaded on europallets are retrieved from storage in the high bay warehouse - to the loading of the trucks docking at the loading dock. This is made possible by competent partners such as the sensor specialists Leuze. In cooperation with Südzucker, an efficient safety solution was tailored to the company's specific application.
On its way to sugar, a beet must first go through several stages. The first of these is the weighing process. As with all internal processes, the rule "safety first" also applies during unloading. This is ensured by several MLD safety sensors installed by Leuze. These sensors are part of the safety concept developed by Leuze for Südzucker. During a sugar campaign, the seven sugar "towers" on Südzucker's factory site are filled. These towers serve as silos and hold the entire supply until the next harvest.
The high-rise warehouse at the Ochsenfurt plant is huge: it offers more than 72,000 storage spaces. The seven aisles can accommodate up to 6,000 euro pallets, on which bags and buckets are stored. The packed goods in the high-bay warehouse are already secured to the europallets with stretch film to protect the goods during transport. On average, a full turnaround of warehouse inventory takes no more than four weeks.
Depending on the quantity of goods taken from storage, between 10 and 25 trucks with sugar leave the Ochsenfurt plant every day. The ordered europallets arrive at the end of the logistics chain via roller conveyors: a five-track gravity conveyor loaded with pallets by a transverse conveyor. The five roller conveyors of the gravity conveyor are right next to each other. The europallets to be transported that are suitable for transport are transferred directly onto the gravity conveyor and transported to their transfer point. The warehouse logistics determines which of the five conveyors is controlled by entering the respective order. Europallets that are not yet suitable for transport are placed on a separate film wrapper before they are brought in. This process is secured by MLD walk-in safeguards from Leuze. Here, these pallets are wrapped in foil before transport so that they too are secured on their europallet. When the pallets reach the end of the slightly inclined transport system, they are stopped by mechanical brakes. The low-loaders pick up the pallets at the transfer point, transport them to the docked trucks and load them directly.
Access protection for the five-track pallet transport from storage at Südzucker is now performed by two vertical Leuze RSL 400 safety laser scanners. Together they form a vertical protection field covering all tracks. The safety system receives from the control system the information about the track on which the pallet is being carried out and adjusts the protective fields of the two laser scanners accordingly shortly before the passage of the pallet. If a pallet approaches the transfer station for removal, the system control is notified and a protection field the size of the pallet and at the corresponding point is deactivated. After passing the pallet, the protective fields of the safety laser scanners are reset to their original size and thus the transport area is "closed" again completely. In this way, hole-less safety is guaranteed during transport cycles. This solution also guarantees high reliability and availability. The safety system does not need any additional signals, for example from muting sensors. This means that there are also no system-related structural limitations. The solution is tamper-proof and ideal for retrofitting into existing systems: The two safety laser scanners are controlled by their own pre-programmed compact safety controllers and are integrated into the system via two-channel safety outputs. Any necessary software modifications for the control and configuration of the safety fields of the laser scanners can be easily carried out, optionally also as a Leuze service for the respective application requirements.
As a reliable partner for efficient sensor solutions, Leuze offers its customers safety products, safety services and safety solutions throughout the entire machine life cycle. Leuze's safety experts have extensive knowledge of the latest norms and standards and have extensive experience in designing safety concepts. They develop efficient, innovative and reliable safety solutions for use in automated environments. Their professional project teams accompany their customers throughout the entire process - from determining their specific requirements to safety approval. Leuze's experts ensure that the safety solution meets the customer's requirements and that the project runs smoothly. They are also based on qualified safety concepts that can also be individually expanded or newly created if necessary. Each solution is individually adapted to the specific system layout and includes all necessary hardware and software components, engineering services such as control programming and configuration in accordance with project requirements, commissioning support, validation of the safety function and comprehensive documentation. This saves time and money and guarantees optimum safety. The innovative, intelligent safety concepts also provide safety without gaps and smooth processes where classic concepts are pushed to the limit.
