Assembly Technology
Customized transport solutions for the packaging industry
At the Froneri plant in Ferentino (Italy), the VarioFlow plus chain conveyor system from Bosch Rexroth ensures an efficient material flow in end-of-line ice cream packaging, reducing downtime and increasing flexibility.
A successful partnership
Froneri, a leading global joint venture between the English group R&R Ice Cream and the Swiss Nestlé Group, operates more than 30 plants worldwide. At its Italian plant in Ferentino, the company produces ice cream for the international market as well as well-known proprietary brands such as Nuii.
For one of its production lines in Ferentino, Froneri made a targeted decision to partner with Bosch Rexroth. The goal of this successful partnership in the area of end-of-line packaging was to develop a tailored, robust, and space-saving solution that meets all of the customer's requirements and ensures the smooth transport of the frozen products to the palletizing area.
The journey from frozen product to palletization
The packaging process at the Ferentino plant is clearly structured: The individual, already packaged and frozen ice cream varieties are first conveyed to a packaging machine, where they are placed into cartons. After sealing, weighing, and checking, the cartons are transported to the palletizing area.
The VarioFlow plus chain conveyor system from Bosch Rexroth plays a key role in this process. A central component of this customized solution is the spiral conveyor. It not only saves space by overcoming height differences in the line, but also serves as a crucial temporary buffer in the event of a machine downtime. This allows products to be accumulated for one to three minutes as needed to resolve issues without halting production.
Rexroth technology in action
Based on the modularity, versatility, and performance of the VarioFlow plus chain conveyor system, a customized solution was developed for the Ferentino plant.
"We chose Bosch Rexroth for one of our production lines. The chain conveyor system transports the products coming from the metal detectors and weighers to the shrink-wrapping machine," explains Alfredo De Falco, Group Project Manager at Froneri.
To enable vertical transport on different conveyor levels, the conveyor at the Ferentino plant is operated, for example, 2.4 meters above the hall floor. This allows both personnel and vehicles transporting pallets and other materials to pass underneath the conveyor system. The height differences in the line are overcome by a space-saving, two-lane spiral conveyor.
The advantages of the chosen solution
The system based on VarioFlow plus components provides significant operational advantages at the Ferentino plant:
- Integrated buffering: In the event of a shrink-wrapping machine downtime, products can be accumulated and temporarily buffered in the spiral conveyor. The buffer capacity absorbs one-third of the incoming products and bridges one to three minutes for troubleshooting.
- Gentle transport: During accumulation, the conveyor chain runs underneath the stationary packaging. Thanks to the low friction of the chain, prints and labels remain undamaged.
- Space efficiency: The two-lane spiral conveyor features two separate conveyor lines. This nearly doubles the transport capacity compared to a single-lane spiral conveyor of the same size, saving valuable production space.
- Flexibility: A wide range of conveyor speeds allows the system to be adapted to different format types.
"Furthermore, it has proven to be robust and reliable in the long run, which is extremely important to us. At no point have we experienced significant production downtime caused by malfunctions," summarizes De Falco.
Long-term success through customized solutions
The successful partnership between Froneri and Bosch Rexroth demonstrates how the versatile VarioFlow plus system was used to develop a customized solution that meets all customer requirements at the Ferentino plant. Designed as a robust and reliable system, it secures smooth processes in end-of-line packaging for the long term.
Do you have questions or are you interested in the VarioFlow plus?
Contact us!
