Punchbowl Kiwifruit Services Maximizes Grading Line Throughput with ARB 90-Degree Transfer S400 Virtual Pocket Merge

Customer Objectives

Punchbowl Kiwifruit Services wanted to improve their Pukekohe, New Zealand, plant’s capacity to handle increasing volumes, driven by continued growth in planting and harvest. With another grading line soon active, they needed a more scalable system to gently handle cartons, increase worker safety, and decrease maintenance and footprint.

Intralox Execution

Punchbowl–Pukekohe’s existing system used chain-driven conveyors to transfer cartons 90 degrees from carton-filling machines to a trunk conveyor, which took the kiwifruit downstream to labeling and palletizing. Because of previous success with Intralox technology and support, they sought our help for a higher-capacity solution. We identified our Activated Roller Belt™ (ARB™) 90-Degree Transfer S400 Virtual Pocket Merge as the best solution for their needs. In just 3 months, the ARB-based merging solution was designed and built by their sister company—Punchbowl Automation—in conjunction with Intralox.

Results

Our ARB 90-Degree Transfer S400 Virtual Pocket Merge gave Punchbowl–Pukekohe capacity to pack more fruit than conventional solutions. This reduced both the required floor space and the amount of equipment needed to move cartons from the grader to the palletizer. The Intralox solution significantly reduced unplanned downtime and maintenance overtime, even eliminating belt tracking and tensioning from the plant’s weekly checklist.

Without the catchpoints of traditional technologies, Intralox ARB equipment also increased worker safety with no guarding required—further improving footprint and maintenance access. The solution has enabled throughput up to 42 cartons per minute on the system’s existing six exits, with the option to scale up to 12 exits in the future. It hasn’t required any repairs or replacements to date, with none expected for at least 4 more years. Having completed the successful installation of the new line, Punchbowl and Intralox are working on additional solutions to further optimize the packaging area.