UK-based Conveyor Systems was (CSL) recently awarded the contract to design and supply a material handling system to support order picking, packing and dispatch of a range of insulated shippers containing investigational medicinal products at clinical supply chain solutions company Fisher Clinical Services.
Stored in a new chilled temperature controlled facility, product is accessed from a mezzanine floor and order picked from racking plus an automated vertical carousel. At seven packing stations, orders are inspected and manually packed into a range of pre-validated shippers, designed to meet the majority of controlled-temperature shipment needs. The system has been designed with space for expansion to nine packing stations at a later date.
CSL designed a bespoke powered roller conveyor that was mounted on special feet enabling it to be powered by SEW geared motor units at an operating height of just 300mm off the floor. The conveyor is capable of handling a range of cardboard insulated shippers up to 680 x 500 x 600mm and weighing a maximum of 40kg.
Completed orders are fed onto the roller conveyor to be transported around a roller bend powered by motorised roller drives. At this point, products travel through a positive pressure enclosure with rapid acting doors located at the entry and exit points and a fire shutter door before passing into an adjacent ambient temperature warehouse for despatch.
"Because of the possible weight of the shippers to be dispatched, it was essential that the loading height of the conveyor was at an easy and accessible height to allow the use of handtrucks in the packing zone of the mezzanine," said a spokesperson for Fisher Clinical Services. "Conveyor Systems provided the technical support and know-how in providing a bespoke solution to our needs and integrating this with an airlock system in a clean environment.'
