These two systems were rationalized to be the same belt width, and to use the same mechanical equipment (idlers, drives, pulleys, belt, etc). However, the first unit achieves a higher lift and length than the other. Unit 1, adjacent to the grinding SAG mill has a lift of 14,250 mm (46.8’) and a length of 34,100 mm (111.9’).  It feeds a crusher, when then feeds the second Sandwich conveyor. That unit has a shorter lift and length at 6,750 mm (22.2’) and 17,500 mm (57.3’), respectively. Unit 2 elevates the pebble ore outside of the building and discharges onto a conveyor which also delivers stockpiled material into the building.

Early in the commissioning process, Continental Gold determined that a conventional conveyor on the site (not supplied by DSI) would need to be modified from a simply supported structure to a cantilevered head end. Continental reached out to DSI for their structural engineering expertise, and the additional task was completed quickly and economically. Though the new steel was procured by the site personnel, DSI ensured that the modifications could be made with minimal additional cost. The result was an elegant strut design that maintained the support at the head end, while also incorporating modifications to allow for access to important equipment.

This is the second gold project on which DSI has cooperated with M3 Engineering. DSI also executed a contract through M3 for an overland conveyor system at Goldcorp’s Los Filos Project in the Nukay mining district of central Guerrero State in Southern Mexico.

Buriticá is approximately a two-hour drive on the paved, Pan-American highway from Medellín, Colombia‘s second largest city. Some highlights of the project are noted below:

• Maiden mineral reserve for the combined Yaraguá and Veta Sur vein systems total 3.7 million ounces of gold and 10.7 million ounces of silver (13.7 million tonnes grading 8.4 g/t gold and 24.3 g/t silver)
• Gold and silver recoveries of 94.1% and 59.9% are expected, respectively, over the life of the mine (“LOM”)
• A 14-year mine life will produce 3,492,000 ounces of recovered gold and 6,425,000 ounces of recovered silver

The long-hole open stoping mining method will be employed to extract high-grade ore from the underground deposit. Cut-and-fill method and shrinkage stoping methods will be applied to extract lower quality ore.

The underground ore body will be accessed via three ramps namely South ramp, Yaraguá ramp, and the Higabra valley tunnel. The mining rate will initially be 2,100 tons per day (tpd) and will be ramped up to 3,000tpd by the third year.

Buritica’s high-grade ore and hearty output estimates make it a rare find.  It is shaping up as a key test for the future of large-scale underground mining in Colombia, whose mostly unexplored mineral riches have miners rubbing their hands.

DSI Sandwich belt high angle conveyors take on many forms and offer many advantages.  Each DSI Sandwich Conveyor uses two standard, smooth-surfaced conveyor belts, face-to-face, to gently but firmly contain the product being carried.  This not only makes steep angles possible; it also offers a spillage free, environmentally sound operation because the material remains secured between the belts.

A DSI sandwich conveyor is capable of higher conveying speeds and greater capacities than other high angle conveying methods.  With the availability of wider belts and accompanying hardware, capacities greater than 10,000 t/h can be easily achieved with a DSI Sandwich conveyor.  High angles of 90° are typical, and lifts of 300m are easily accomplished.

The use of all conventional conveyor parts ensures high availability and low maintenance costs, as well as interchangeability of components and fast delivery of replacement parts.

Dos Santos International is the world’s foremost authority on sandwich belt high angle conveyors. The company was founded and is currently led by the inventor of the system, Joseph Dos Santos. DSI is known for its extensive worldwide experience in sales, engineering, and construction of bulk materials handling systems and equipment. This has included major contributions that have expanded the range of bulk handling and transport solutions. Most notably advances in sandwich belt high angle conveyors have led to their worldwide utilization. The expertise of DSI spans a wide range of materials handling systems and equipment including high angle conveyors, high powered, high capacity, high lift slope conveyors and long overland conveyors utilizing the very latest technology.

The post DOS SANTOS INTERNATIONAL STARTS UP CONVEYORS AT BURITICÁ PROJECT appeared first on Cargo Connexion.

 Carbamide, also known as urea, is currently the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser in agricultural industries world-wide, mainly due to its comparably low costs. The demand is continuously increasing due to our growing global population. The manufacturing plant in the coastal town of Bintulu on the Malaysian island of Borneo has been one of the biggest of its kind in Asia for many years. It is operated by Asean Bintulu Fertilizer Snd. Bhd., a subsidiary of Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG).

PCG is one of the largest manufacturers of chemical products in Southeast Asia and the leading producer in Malaysia. 25 companies are part of the group, offering a wide range of chemical products, such as olefins, polymers, methanol and fertilisers, which are urea-based for example. Their customers are based in about 30 different countries. The most important markets include Malaysia, China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

To meet the growing demand for urea, Asean Bintulu had to increase the capacity of its export facilities. BEUMER Group was awarded with the contract as a general contractor, and in a consortium with the PBJV Group Sdn Bhd from Malaysia, who took over the assembly of the system. The service provider from Malaysia is responsible for the transport and installation of onshore and offshore pipelines, in addition to other activities. The company also equips ships for their respective jobs in the oil and gas industries.

Compelling engineering and time management

“This order was a brownfield project,” explains Heinrich Beintmann, Senior Project Manager at BEUMER Group. “This means that we had to integrate our new systems into the existing ones in a way that ensured that the material flow from the longitudinal stockyard to the ship was not interrupted.” Another requirement was that the already available hardware and software components from third-party suppliers needed to be updated to match the increased performance.” The maintenance of the entire system will become a lot easier thanks to this modernisation, because all components are on the same technical standard,” describes Beintmann. BEUMER Group, in cooperation with PBJV Group, developed a technical solution which they presented to ABF together with a schedule that met all the required milestones. Asean Bintulu Fertilizer was convinced by the system providers hard work over the course of the proposal phase.

AFB’s production location is running 24/7. “To minimise the downtime, we had only 55 days scheduled to complete the entire integration, which was quite a challenge,” admits Beintman. BEUMER Group took over project management and engineering, supplied all the systems and supervised installation and commissioning.

The scope of supply included a portal reclaimer for 600 t/h, the ship loader for 1,000 t/h, a fully automatic tripper conveyor for filling the longitudinal stockpile, a mimic panel to comfortably monitor and control the system, the adjustment of the motor control units, a substation, a transfer station with a capacity of 1,000 t/h and a screening station, the most critical element in the schedule. The system supplier installed a solution with a capacity of 2 x 500 t/h. “We had to disassemble the existing screening station down to the main supports of the building and provide it with entirely new technology,” explains Beintmann.

The transfer station divides the material flow towards ship loading and truck loading. This allows the customer to load either ships or trucks or both at the same time.

The assembly of the portal reclaimer and ship loader was less time-critical, because the team could start working on it already prior to the 55-day shutdown, before the production plant was closed down. The assembly of the portal reclaimer in the longitudinal stockpile offered an entirely different challenge. “The low ceiling height made it impossible for us to assemble the reclaimer on the floor and then set it up, as we usually do,” so the BEUMER expert. The system supplier had to find another solution: “Here we had to assemble it segment by segment. Challenging and time consuming.”

BEUMER and PBJV were up for the challenge, and, in close cooperation, developed installation drawings and procedures for each work package, in compliance with the strict safety requirements of all parties involved.

Adapted to the performance requirements

The portal reclaimer traverses the longitudinal stockpile with the urea fertiliser, removes the bulk material in layers from the side slopes and transports it through a primary crusher to a belt conveyor at a capacity of 600 t/h. The portal reclaimer is fully automated. An existing side reclaimer adds another 400 t/h from a second longitudinal stockpile into the system.

“The existing belt conveyor systems were not designed for the higher performance of our new portal reclaimer,” says Otto Schmelzer, Engineering Manager at BEUMER Group. “Which meant that we had to upgrade the drive stations that were already there.” Not a problem for the system supplier: Because you want all systems used by the customer to run seamlessly with each other, BEUMER continuously develops not only its own products further, but its Customer Support takes care of upgrading mechanical and control technology manufactured by third-parties. “Our customers are incredibly satisfied with our modification concepts, because our goal is to keep already existing structures as much as possible,” describes Otto Schmelzer. This helps companies to reduce their costs, by reducing the number of necessary components and ensuring fast return on investment. Adding shorter installation and handover times was also particularly important with this project.

Efficient ship loading

Belt conveyors transport the urea over the screening and transfer stations to the new ship loader, also supplied by BEUMER Group. The mobile and swivel-mounted ship loader has a telescopic chute and a throw-off belt conveyor to make loading as efficient and flexible as possible. “With this system, our customer can now load ships with 1,000 t/h,” says Beintmann.

Petronas and Asean Bintulu Fertilizer are completely satisfied with the solutions, the progression of the project and the work of the BEUMER and PBJV consortium. “Our part aligned perfectly with the milestones of the entire project,” says BEUMER expert Beintmann. “And the cooperation between the PBJV Group has been exemplary.”

The commissioning for the ship loader took less than three weeks, the entire system was completely commissioned after eight weeks and handed over to the operator.

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Marietta, GA – Dos Santos International has begun the start up of its patented DSI Sandwich belt Adder Snake conveyor for the Yara Sluiskil shiploader upgrade project in the Netherlands.  DSI was awarded supply of their Sandwich conveyor by Bedeschi S.p.A., who was awarded the contract for the supply of the ship loader for the plant in January 2017. 

DSI Innovation

The initial design concept for the upgrade used a conventional conveyor “stinger” boom out from a tripper, to the tail of a standard DSI high angle conveyor.  This had the disadvantage of an additional transfer and extra equipment, so the client readily embraced the idea of extending the high angle conveyor tail to receive the material directly from the dock conveyor tripper. Layout of the new arrangement immediately revealed that sufficient tripper height did not exist to accommodate the tail pulley of the sandwich belt high angle conveyor.  The limitation was so severe that the minimum pulley diameter required for the standard sandwich conveyor belt consumed too much of the space.

The solution was to employ the DSI Adder Snake design, using a lighter construction belt that can be wrapped around a somewhat smaller tail pulley. To accomplish the high angle lift, the DSI Adder Snake swallows the narrow conventional belt, along with its material, into the two wider sandwich belts, allowing the material to enter the sandwich belts with minimal disturbance. It does this without the energy loss and additional equipment required for a standard transfer.

The concept of the DSI Adder Snake, invented by DSI’s vice president, Marc dos Santos, was inspired by a very different application, elevating material from under large storage domes.  The use of this technology extends to a wide variety of applications, including marine terminals, stacker/reclaimers, and long overland systems.

Yara Sluiskil

The DSI Sandwich high angle conveyor will transfer urea and amidas prills at a rate of 600 t/h at a 45° angle.  The material will be transferred from the tripped dock conveyor and elevated to the ship loader boom conveyor.  The sandwich conveyor discharge is centered on the bridge rotation axis of the boom, allowing the boom to rotate freely.

DSI Sandwich belt high angle conveyors take on many forms and offer many advantages.  Each DSI Sandwich Conveyor uses standard, smooth-surfaced conveyor belts, face-to-face, to gently but firmly contain the product being carried.  This not only makes steep angles possible. It also offers a clean, environmentally sound operation because the material remains hugged between the belts.  The use of all conventional conveyor parts ensures high availability and low maintenance costs.  A DSI  Sandwich conveyor is capable of higher conveying speeds and greater capacity than other high angle conveying methods. The availability of wide belts and hardware makes capacities greater than 10,000 t/h easily achieved with a DSI Sandwich conveyor.  High angles of 90° are typical, and lifts of 300m are easily accomplished.   

Dos Santos International is the world’s foremost authority on sandwich belt high angle conveyors, founded and led by the inventor of the system, Joseph Dos Santos. DSI was founded on its extensive worldwide experience in sales, engineering, and construction of bulk materials handling systems and equipment. This has included major contributions that have expanded the range of bulk handling and transport solutions. Most notably, advances in sandwich belt high angle conveyors have led to their worldwide utilization. The expertise of DSI spans a wide range of materials handling systems and equipment including high angle conveyors, high powered, high capacity, high lift slope conveyors and long overland conveyors utilizing the very latest technology and innovations.

The post DOS SANTOS INTERNATIONAL SUPPLIES FIRST DSI ADDER SNAKE FOR SHIPLOADER appeared first on Cargo Connexion.

Bruks Siwertell has completed the delivery of two high-capacity Siwertell 790 D-type unloaders. Ordered to ensure zero dust emissions and spillage-free coal handling, they now operate as a critical part of a large expansion project at the 3,800MW coal-fired Suizhong Power Plant in Liaoning, China.

“Seaside resorts and large coal handling facilities are not natural companions, but busy ports, space constraints and growing populations often require them to be, and when they are, some of the strictest environmental regulations come into force,” says Per Wahlström, Bruks Siwertell Contract Manager for the Suizhong project.

This was the issue faced by Suizhong Power Plant when it needed to expand. Located on the Bohai Sea, Liaoning is the most populous province in the region and its seaside resorts are particularly popular holiday destinations for people living in Beijing.

“No spillage or dust emissions from handling coal were allowed,” continues Mr Wahlström. “This is where Bruks Siwertell came in. The power facility approached us to see if our enclosed unloaders would meet the standards required, and they do.”

The initial contract was signed with Suizhong Power Generation Co Ltd and Shenhua in 2016. Since then, Shenhua has merged with another large Chinese energy company, Guodian; forming China Energy. The combined energy group owns one other smaller Siwertell unloader, which was delivered in 2018 to the Suqian power plant, formerly part of Guodian.

“Suizhong needed to increase its annual intake of coal to around six million metric tons in the most environmentally friendly way possible,” Mr Wahlström explains. “Previously, the coal was handled with grab cranes, and in comparison, our unloaders offered significantly higher rates of through-ship efficiency, environmental protection, shorter turnaround times for vessels, and cost savings.”

The two units ensure totally enclosed, dust-free coal handling and each offer a continuous rated capacity of 1,500t/h, serving vessels up to 50,000 dwt. They were delivered at the end of 2019 to accommodate the owner’s extended construction schedule and were transported fully assembled on a barge from Nantong.

“The most critical phases were loading and unloading the completely assembled units from the barge onto the power station’s new jetty using a floating crane. Safety precautions, effective preparation and good communication involving all parties are crucial in these operations,” he notes.

The jetty extends 2,500m out into the Bohai Sea and accommodates the unloaders on a 300m-berth along with transfer towers and new conveyors.

“The customer was very happy to receive the equipment and eager to put it into use,” says Mr Wahlström. “The unloaders have now been in service for a few months and early feedback on their performance is positive.”

Siwertell unloaders are known for their reliable, long service, particularly enhanced with good maintenance regimes; keeping the unloaders in peak condition is now being discussed with their new owners.

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Regularly handling around two million tonnes/annum its deep-water jetty allows loading and unloading at most states of tide.

Barge loading has been an essential part of Tarmac’s operation at Greenwich Warf. This has led to the recent investment of a EDGE Innovate RTU220 Radial Truck Unloader. The RTU enhances the loading operation by facilitating a greater efficient loading method. Supplied by EDGE Innovate; the RTU220 is designed to allow for the continuous loading of barges directly from trucks . This has resulted in increased efficiency in barge loading at Greenwich Wharf.

A superior solution:
Alireza Zand – Marine Plant Manager, takes up the story, “It was just over two years ago when we decided to look at mobile feeders to provide a cost effective and reliable solution to barge loading for supply of 6A fill material for the Thames Tideway Project.

“Installing a conveyor on the jetty didn’t make sense because of the high cost and loading speed so we looked at the market for feeders and opted for an Edge RTU220 as it was exactly the machine we wanted at a competitive price.”

With such a tight footprint at the wharf the Radial Truck Unloader is fed by trucks off loading directly into the feed hopper of the RTU220. Each truck taking it in turns is loaded by shovel from the yard stockpile and then making the short journey to the machine.

Ali, continued, “We are very happy with the machine so far; speed of  loading is dictated by two trucks loading in turn in a very tight area so we can currently load a 1000 tonne barge in just over 3 hours at approximately 300 tph, although if we could load the RTU220 with a constant feed it would easily do 1000 tph.

“It is a far superior solution compared to a conveyor system on cost and loading speed.”

Since February 2017 the RTU220 initially loaded two barges a day with over 50,000 tonnes of 6A feed material going through the machine for projects at Chambers Wharf at Tower Bridge and Kingdom Memorial Park and other contracts including the supply of clean aggregate and sand to Hanson at Wandsworth and Euromix.

Ali, added, “We have the 6A material brought in by our deep-water dredgers where it is stockpiled and ready for these types of contracts, it is basically a 40-60 split sand and gravel, 100mm down.”

Major projects and the ability to deliver:
The 4-acre site has a very tight footprint and supply to market is facilitated through either the on-site railhead, or by barge, or locally by road to concrete plants at Battersea and Kings Cross.

The Greenwich Wharf operation has a chequered history having supplied materials that have contributed to the building of the Millennium Dome, Olympic Village, Crossrail, the Jubilee Line Extension and the Emirates and Tottenham Stadiums. Recently materials have been supplied to the Thames Tideway Tunnel which is a 25km tunnel running under the River Thames to provide capture, storage and conveyance of wastewater discharges that previously discharged into the river.

The Edge RTU220 Radial Truck Unloader:
The RTU220 is an independent track mounted feeder, powered by a Cat4.4 96KW (129BHP) diesel engine with a remote controlled radial discharge conveyor. The RTU220 offers huge torque whilst only consuming 12-15 litres per hour (3-4USG). The RTU220 provides operators with a greater efficient loading method and is designed to allow operators to continuously load directly from trucks into train wagons or barges.

The full HMI control panel and remote-control functions provide operators easy control of the RTU functions whilst loading. The Panel Interface provides easy fine tuning for accurate application performance. The HMI allows for automatic start/stop operation and provides visual data output such as engine load, hydraulic oil temp and fuel consumption displayed while the machine is still operating.

The machine supplied to Greenwich Wharf has a range of applications but is specifically designed to load barges with feed material received directly from lorries and dump trucks.

The RTU can accept a full 23 cubic metre (30 cubic yard) load. Its high torque drive system allows the speed of the conveyor belt to be adjusted meaning the output of the machine can be regulated.

Further applications include material stockpiling, and loading of ships, containers and railway carriages. Material is fed into the RTU220s’ large 23m³ (30 cubic yards) hopper and is carried to the radial conveyor via the 2200mm (87”) wide heavy-duty belt.

Full length impact bars prevent belt sag thus reducing material roll back and prolonging the life of the conveyor belt. Variable belt speed via the HMI control panel controls the flow of material to the radial conveyor.  The massive 23m³ hopper capacity improves cycle times and increased on-site production.  With dual access, hydraulic flared sides, the RTU Hopper can be fed directly by wheel loaders and grab cranes. Unlike feeder belt systems driven via a drum roller, the RTU220s’ sprocket and chain design ensure against belt slippage or stalling.  The RTU has the capacity to convey 1000 tonnes per hour (1102UST) with a maximum feed size of 600mm (23”).

Material is stockpiled via the 1200mm (48”) wide radial product conveyor which provides a discharge height of up to 6800mm (22’4”). The 140° radial function enhances the flexibility of the RTU allowing it to be utilised in a number of applications. The hydraulic folding head section allows for quick transition from transport to operating position.

Further cost savings are available with the option of dual power which enables operators to tracked the RTU220 into position and then connect to the on-site 3 phase electrical supply to power conveyors at a higher level of efficiency.

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At LogiMAT in Stuttgart, BEUMER Group presented its newly developed BG Sorter from the sortation and distribution technology segment. The high-capacity system enables precise and controlled processing of a wide variety of packages. The system integrator also has an efficient warehouse control system in its range for optimum flow of goods. In an interview, Thomas Wiesmann explains how users can benefit from this comprehensive competence and what trends they can expect. He is Director Sales Logistic Systems at BEUMER Group.

Mr. Wiesmann, at LogiMAT you showed the newly developed BG Sorter, which BEUMER Group first presented in 2018. How was the high-speed sortation system received in the market?

Wiesmann: Very well. We have already been able to implement some exciting projects since the market launch. This includes, for example, the new distribution centre of Austrian Post in Wernberg in Carinthia. Up to 30,000 parcels are handled on a daily basis. Our BG Sorter is at the heart of the centre. Availability, reliability and, above all, speed are valuable assets in this industry and are of paramount importance to our customers. With our system, Austrian Post will be the only parcel service provider in Austria to deliver parcels six days a week, from Monday to Saturday. The BG Sorter is powerful, energy-efficient and extremely quiet – much to the benefit of the employees.

What makes this high-capacity sorter so special and how do users benefit from it?

 Wiesmann: With our BG sorter, operators benefit from very precise and controlled sorting with maximum flexibility. This means that both tilt tray and cross-belt sorters can be used in customer systems. The new sorter family provides the ideal variant for any type of items. The BG Sorter CB (“cross belt”) is a reliable solution for sorting a wide variety of articles such as parcels and bags. The so-called “full cross belt design” means that the maximum belt width is ensured. The actual benefit for the customer: More usable belt area is available with the same sorter size. The risk that products remain lying between the belts is reduced. The tilt tray design also offers some advantages. We have designed the tilt trays so as to prevent items from getting stuck between the trays. The so-called “closed deck” closes the gap between them. This function reduces downtimes and avoids possible damage to the sorter or the goods. Users can handle items of different sizes with more flexibility. The tilt tray version can transport items weighing up to 60 kilograms. Furthermore, the construction series is available either with the proven OptiDrive, which is based on servo drives, or the contactless linear synchronous motor as the drive system. Both reduce energy demand and CO2 emissions compared to products offered by our competitors.

With this development, you have combined the best of Crisplant technology with the best of BEUMER technology. Can you give us more information?

 Wiesmann: Both Crisplant, which today operates under the name of BEUMER Group A/S, and we have acquired extensive know-how in the development of high-quality sortation systems over decades. Since the acquisition in 2009, we have been able to expand our portfolio, exploit synergies and further expand our strengths in technology. The BG Sorter combines future-oriented features, which set new standards in sorting as large a product range as possible. Providing our customers with this scalable system, we facilitate their future growth and enable them to respond to changes in the market.

What demands do online retailers make on sortation technology today and how have they changed over the years?

Wiesmann: The competitive pressure on postal and CEP companies continues to increase. They must not only save costs, but also adopt a more environmentally conscious approach and follow market trends. Basically, material distribution technology is becoming more complex, and the systems must be able to perform increasingly specific tasks or adapt to changing conditions. Highly efficient processes are necessary to ensure quick delivery of parcels to the customer. Mail order companies are offering more and more products whose dimensions previously made it difficult to transport them automatically. In order to meet the increased performance requirements, more automation is required. In addition, the number of the required sortation and distribution systems is increasing, as more small-scale distribution centres are being built close to customers in order to be able to supply them even faster.

As a system integrator, you offer a flexible and modular warehouse control system (WCS) to control complete material flows in distribution centres from goods receipt to goods issue in real time. What are the features of this solution?

 Wiesmann: Our WCS centrally connects and controls material flows from quality assurance, picking of goods and order picking to goods issue, always in accordance with the actual occupancy rate. How effective this system is can be seen, for example, in the new European logistics centre of the Polish automotive spare parts supplier Inter Cars near Warsaw. There it controls the packing and goods issue sorter as well as the put-to-light system in the goods receipt department, coordinates the automatic provision and application of the labels required for shipping the goods, and handles the routing of the individual items on the conveyor lines. This route planning optimises the performance of the system and controls the distribution of the various spare part types.

As an additional module we also offer our BG Fusion system to operators. This visual display system provides the operator with a web-enabled user interface for configuration, monitoring and reporting. It displays system data as alarms in a uniform and centralised way and shows status messages, fault messages and all relevant data. The entire system status can be monitored via the interface to the machine control. BG Fusion combines machine and order data so that the responsible employee can track the current order status in real time.

Why are such software systems becoming more and more important, and what are the concrete benefits for the user?

Wiesmann: The software systems serve as link between the customer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) or warehouse management system (WMS) and the entire material flow equipment. They ensure that the products reach the right place in the desired time within the distribution centre. Operators can perfectly coordinate their processes, increase throughput and reduce costs. With our know-how in sortation technology, we know exactly how to use these systems so that the user gets the most value out of it.

When developing the WCS software, what did you focus on?

Wiesmann: Unlike many competitors, our focus is not on adapting the customer’s processes to the WCS. We rather adapt the system with its modular design to the respective needs of the customer on a project-by-project basis.

Outlook for the future: What challenges do you see for the logistics industry, and how must providers develop their IT skills?

 Wiesmann: E-commerce is picking up speed and we are expecting double-digit growth per year in this area. In order to hold their own against competitors, the future success of mail order companies and logistics service providers will depend even more on the performance of their distribution centres. To increase performance, digitisation is inevitable.

What does that mean in concrete terms for us as suppliers? To position us for the future, we must complement our expertise in machines and systems, including the necessary software and controls, with digital innovation. We have competence in mechanical engineering. Here in Germany, there are many hidden champions who are global leaders with their products and systems. In my opinion, it is more convenient to adapt digital technologies for the required digital competence. For this purpose, we founded the BEAM GmbH in Berlin. With this autonomous company builder, we want to solve B2B challenges that are unique to the logistics industry in cooperation with start-up teams. For this we are planning on founding three start-ups per year and transfer them, consolidated under BEAM, into a separate company. Our goal is to open up new, but also disruptive business areas in logistics.

The post Interview with Thomas Wiesmann, Director Sales Logistic Systems at BEUMER Group “We support our customers in growing” appeared first on Cargo Connexion.

Martin Motion, a robotics team made up of students from nine local high schools, recently competed at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Central Illinois Regional in Peoria as well as the Idaho FRC Regional in Nampa, Idaho.  Winning the Engineering Inspiration Award in Idaho, Martin Motion earned a spot at the World Championship in Detroit, Michigan.

40 teams, some from as far as Turkey, competed at the Central Illinois Regional, where Martin Motion finished with a rank of 11 and a record of 6-7-0, serving as captain of Alliance #8.  Eliminated from the playoffs in the quarterfinals round, Martin Motion (Team #6237) cheered on fellow robotics teams and was excited to win the Imagery Award in honor of Jack Kamen.  This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.

In Idaho, 27 teams attended, including a team from Mexico.  Finishing with a ranking of 9 and a record of 7-5-0 while serving as captain of Alliance #6, Martin Motion’s robot suffered a competition-ending electrical failure just minutes prior to the start of their playoff match, forcing the team to withdraw from the competition and select a substitute to compete in its place.  Team #6237 ended up being eliminated from the playoffs, but due to winning the prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award, Martin Motion advanced to the World Championship.  The Engineering Inspiration award recognizes outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization and community.  Adding to the excitement of making it to the World Championship, Martin Motion’s trip was sponsored by NASA, which paid for the team’s registration fee.

This was Martin Motion’s second consecutive trip to the FIRST Championship event in its four years of existence, joining more than 400 of the top robotics teams at the World Championship.  A kickoff celebration was held on Ford Field, where students and mentors interacted with members of other championship-caliber teams from near and far.  Students were also able to attend daily conference sessions geared toward further developing the robotics program offered to area schools and communities.  The Detroit Cobo Center hosted over 17,000 students and 25,000 spectators for the pinnacle of the 2019 FIRST Robotics Competition season.  The competition was a great experience for all students and a memorable finale for the nine graduating seniors.  Team #6237 was able to overcome a programming error to showcase the robot’s world-class climbing ability, finishing the event ranked as a top-50 team in its division.

Students from Alwood, Annawan, Bureau Valley, Cambridge, Galva, Geneseo, Kewanee, Stark County, and Wethersfield made up Martin Motion Team #6237.  Martin Engineering is a proud sponsor of Martin Motion and enjoys providing opportunities for students to learn more about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).  Founded in 1944, Martin Engineering is a family-owned business located in Neponset, Illinois that has patented hundreds of products to make the handling of bulk materials cleaner, safer, and more productive.

By helping to inspire students and ignite these academic principles, Martin hopes to see an increase in youth pursuing careers in STEM-related fields.

With the help of Silver and Bronze sponsors (Nanninga Trucking, State Bank of Toulon, Nelson Auto Sales, Aluminum Castings Company, Strategic Retirement Partners, Alfa Plastics, Martin & Sullivan Inc., Rumbold & Kuhn Inc., Margaret Devenney, Chicago Tube & Iron, Boss Holdings Inc., and Quality Cable & Components Inc.) and other local businesses and supporters, Martin Motion is able to operate as a cost-free program to all students, allowing students to have the same level of opportunity and engagement, regardless of their financial situation.  Kewanee

Physical Therapy & Rehab and Kewanee Flemish American Club sponsored and donated to the trivia night fundraiser, LaGondola Spaghetti House generously hosted a spaghetti supper fundraiser, and Club Colors donated the team attire.

In addition to focusing on STEM, the robotics program encourages socialization among students from several area schools, as well as robotics teams all across the world.  FIRST Robotics provides an outlet and opportunities to socialize with people having similar interests that they wouldn’t normally cross paths with.

If interested in learning more or supporting this worthwhile cause, please email: sethm@martin-eng.com.

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Mr Blade™ is a direct-to-site service to maintain and replace belt-cleaner blades – accurately specified, custom-fitted and regularly monitored. Already successful in the USA and UK, the program is an efficient way for materials manufacturers to improve productivity by helping to keep their conveyor belts running to achieve optimum performance. Clean conveyors also make the working environment a better place to be.

Martin Engineering developed Mr Blade™ after studies found that 9 out of 10 conveyor belt cleaners in operation were neither installed nor maintained properly. Conveyor belt cleaners that aren’t looked after create material carry-back and spillage, increasing risks to health (from airborne dust) and safety (due to manual handling to clear build-ups). Poorly maintained belt cleaners can also increase wear-and-tear on the belt, exacerbate downtime and reduce productivity.

In Italy, Martin Engineering is already well-known for its exceptional range of conveyor belt solutions in industries like energy and steel. The Mr Blade™ program extends this same superior offering to smaller sites – such as quarries, concrete and asphalt plants – which may not have their own onsite resources to maintain every aspect of the plant.

Andrea Passoni, Martin Engineering’s Business Unit Manager for Italy said: “Many construction materials producers believe that carry-back and spillage from conveyor belts is inevitable. But it’s not – at Martin Engineering we have the know-how and the products to solve these issues. With Mr Blade™ we offer a money-back guarantee that customers will experience better cleaning, longer service life and lower cost of operation of their conveyor belts.

“The idea behind the Mr Blade™ program is to provide a consistent, high quality service to help our customers maintain their conveyor belts so they keep their plants running smoothly. Mr Blade™ also eliminates the need to stock replacement blades and associated components. For busy production managers it’s one less thing to worry about.”

To support the launch in Italy, for a limited period any new Mr Blade™ customers will receive the first product installation free of charge. Already several companies have taken up the offer including Italian construction group Vitali.

Luigi Pinna, Olbia Asphalt Plant Manager at Vitali said: “We subscribed to the Mr Blade™ program at a number of our production sites earlier in 2019 and we soon started to see the benefits in terms of reduced spillage and production uptime. We anticipate that Mr Blade™ will continue to help us improve productivity and reduce carry-back and spillage, and we hope to extend the program to more of our plants over the coming months.”

Italy’s first Mr Blade™ technician is Simone Memmola who covers the north of Italy. As a highlytrained conveyor specialist – equipped with a mobile workshop van – Simone’ job is to carry out proactive and preventative maintenance, replacing worn or failing components before they lead to a breakdown that stops production.

As part of the Mr Blade™ program, Simone makes regular customer site visits to undertake Martin Engineering’s trademark Walk-the-Belt™ 18-point inspection regime. As well as the belt cleaners themselves, where necessary he will adjust, repair or replace the main frame and tensioner of any belt cleaner at no charge. An electronic record is kept of operating conditions on all conveyors in the Mr Blade™ program using the MartinIQ® app (available for all popular smart phones). This gives customers an assessment of vital components, including recommendations for avoiding costly failures and production downtime.

Martin Engineering expects to launch Mr Blade™ in other European countries later this year.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

At POWTECH 2019, we will be demonstrating our expertise as a system supplier for high-performance packaging lines. To ensure high throughput at the lines for (petro)chemical products or construction materials, we configure the performance of the individual machines and
components as well as that of the higher-level control system to meet the application-specific requirements. In this way, customers always receive the optimum solution.

We provide the right components for efficient material flows to complement our efficient filling, palletizing and packaging machines. The customer therefore gets everything from a single source – including software and comprehensive customer support.

We are delighted to invite you to our press breakfast at POWTECH 2019 in Nuremberg. You will find us in Booth 627 in Hall 1. The event will take place at 10 a.m. on April 10 and last about one hour.

P.S.: On April 9, we will be at the bauma in Munich where we will be holding a press event at 10 a.m. at our Booth 413 in Hall B2.

We would be delighted to welcome you to our trade fair booth at one or both of the two events.

We look forward to seeing you on this interesting occasion.

Best regards,

Director of Communications and Public Relations
BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG

The post BEUMER Group press breakfast at POWERTECH 2019: 10 a.m. on April 10 in Hall 1, Booth 627 appeared first on Cargo Connexion.

BEUMER Group supplies packaging lines and complementing intralogistics solutions customised to its users and their requirements from one single source. Serving the cement, construction and chemical industries, consumer goods market and logistics sector, the extensive product range features modular designs. One of its customers is the German retail store dm-drogerie markt GmbH & Co. KG, with its logistics centre in Weilerswist near Cologne.

When BEUMER Group installs packaging lines in the (petro)chemical industry, the process may resemble this: bulk materials from the chemical industry are transported from the silo via a conveyor line to the form fill seal system BEUMER fillpac FFS. This highly efficient filling machine forms a ready-made PE tubular film into a bag and fills it with the customer’s engineering plastics such as PE, PP, PA or PS granules. Reliable, gentle and sustainable filling is also possible for salts or fertilisers. The bags are then weighed before the filling process. For this, the BEUMER fillpac FSS is equipped with an electronic calibration-capable weighing unit. It ensures that the system fills the bags with a constant quantity of material within the specified tolerances. Then the system seals the bags with a weight of up to 25 kg. It can process 2,600 bags per hour.

For the efficient filling of paper bags with bulk material, particularly cement and construction materials, the system provider offers the BEUMER fillpac R. These systems function reliably, carefully and sustainably while meeting the required throughput. The construction series is equipped with a special weighing unit as well. Depending on the requirements and on the material characteristics such as bulk density, grain size, material density or flow behaviour, BEUMER Group can offer both air and impeller filling machines from the construction series BEUMER fillpac R. The air filling machines are suitable for bagging pourable and coarse-grained products with particle sizes up to ten millimetres, whereas the impeller technology is suited for free flowing and fine-grained products like cement or gypsum. Adding the BEUMER bag placer and a ream magazine to the system makes the filling even more efficient.

Proper and stable stacks on pallets

The filled bags, which are made of different materials like paper, PE or PP and have different sizes, weights and designs (flat valve bags or valve bottom bags), have to be stacked on pallets in a stable and precise way. For this, BEUMER Group offers the BEUMER paletpac. It can be quickly assembled thanks to its modular design, is easily accessible for maintenance, can be operated intuitively and flexibly adapted to different packing patterns. Depending on the product requirements, the BEUMER paletpac can be equipped with a clamp-type or twin-belt turning device which positions the bags smoothly, quickly and exactly. For palletising cartons, boxes, canisters or trays, BEUMER Group offers the BEUMER robotpac^. This space-saving, fully automatic articulated robot solves complex palletising and de-palletising challenges reliably and efficiently. The user receives gripping systems suitable for all types of packaged goods, which can be easily exchanged.

Reliable packaging of dm drugstore products

The BEUMER stretch hood high capacity packaging system is at the heart of the packaging lines. It covers the mixed pallet of merchandise with a highly elastic film hood. This can be filled and palletised bags, boxes of detergent, buckets of paint or storage jars. During transshipment and outside storage, the merchandise is protected reliably against environmental influences such as sunlight, dirt and humidity. This is important for the operators who need their products to be transported reliably and in perfect condition to the customers, products like those from dm-drogerie markt GmbH & Co. KG.

The drugstore chain has its own distribution centres, one in Waghäusel in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg, and one in Weilerswist near Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. Here, the employees pre-package cardboard goods for the stores. In Weilerswist, there is also the so-called small parts distribution centre. Here, small and individual products that cannot be securely stored on pallets are packaged in containers and cardboard boxes, and then commissioned, palletised and shipped. Both distribution centres have a combined product range of 12,800 items.

Secure pallet protection

Up to 3,000 pallets of goods arrive in Weilerswist daily. They are registered and checked. They are then transported over a conveyor line to two fully automated high-bay storage facilities. Empty pallets move along 42 aisles on overhead tracks and automated guided vehicle systems. A light signal indicates which product, and how many, are to be placed on the pallet. The merchandise must be secured and protected, so that it arrives at the dm stores in perfect condition. Therefore, high demands are placed on the packaging systems. Two high-capacity BEUMER stretch hood machines are in operation. They package 90 pallets each per hour, but are designed for 100 pallets. Lorries bring the shops their goods approximately 72 hours after ordering.

Playing with colours

The systems run perfectly. The smooth surface of the film hood increases the visibility of the palletised merchandise and the BEUMER stretch hood provides considerably higher levels of availability compared to stretch wrappers; another bonus: they have more colours than other packaging systems. At dm’s request, they were painted in several colours. So they fit in the coherent colour scheme of the entire distribution centre: the basic colours yellow, orange, blue and purple run through the entire design. The unique design was created by STOLLSTEINERart&business. The idea behind it is that the colours signal to the employees that all working steps are interlinked.

Like a second skin

Another solution for protecting the bags against environmental factors is the BEUMER bag-in-bag: This system packages one or several filled paper bags quickly and reliably with a weather-resistant plastic film. This ensures that the contents are perfectly protected against moisture, dust or insect infestation when they are transported or stored.
Furthermore, the system provider equips all systems of a line with the same Human Machine Interface (HMI). This operator panel provides users with an easily understandable and intuitive interaction concept, enabling them to define efficient working sequences.

And there is more at the end of this packaging line: With system solutions of BEUMER Group, the full pallets or individual bags can be forwarded to a connected warehouse or directly to the loading space of a truck. The system components are mainly transport technologies such as conveyors or vehicle-based systems. Various solutions for handling and manipulators such as robots, buffer and storage modules are available as well. As BEUMER Group always uses components from a modular system, the solutions can be expanded at any time and can grow with the customer’s needs.

Software based on modular design

For best results and to ensure full material and data tracking, the filling, palletising and packaging components as well as other system components must be perfectly matched. For this, BEUMER Group has developed the modular BG Software Suite as superior data processing system. It can be adapted individually to particular tasks and products from other companies can be easily integrated. Users can extend this solution at any time and optimise their material flows. The cross-program user interface BG Fusion shows process data and reports. All available data can be accessed without having to switch between different applications.

With the BEUMER Group warehouse control system the BG Software Suite can be easily connected to the warehouse management system or the customer’s ERP solution. This way, BEUMER Group ensures the communication between the different control levels for the user. BEUMER can create an intelligent connection between the individual systems, and integrate them into existing process and inventory control systems of the customer.

Online data access at any time

BEUMER Group has developed the new Operation Monitoring app.  With this application for mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets, the user or the management has an overview on all relevant key figures of the complete packaging line or individual systems. The app shows the status quo of availability, performance and quality levels as well as the energy and compressed-air consumption. This ensures efficient operation of all systems. Customers can adopt the program to their specific requirements. For a better organisation and control of their logistics value chain, the task is to integrate all participants, systems, machines, and products in one dynamic system – horizontally and vertically. Thanks to this increasing networking, highly linked system structures are possible, in line with the ideas of Industry 4.0.

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