Page 29 - Grapevine July-Aug 2020

In The Winery

bottles are packed into either reshipper cases or
new cases (if the bottles were purchased in bulk),
then on to case sealing, and finally, palletizing for
shipment or warehousing.”

Sinicrope told The Grapevine Magazine that case
sealers are another must-have component of a win-
ery’s automated end-of-line packaging operation.

“Case sealers are always used at wineries that
use reshipper case packaging, as they are needed
to seal the top flaps of the cases after the bottles
are packed. A-B-C manufactures several models for
various speeds and that seal with either hot-melt
adhesive or pressure-sensitive tape. A-B-C case
sealers have exclusive features to manage the flaps
of the reshipper cases to ensure smooth folding
and sealing of the inner and outer flaps, without
the need for a separate flap positioner,” he said.

“Case sealers are also used on lines that receive
their bottles in bulk. In this scenario, a case erector
will set up and seal the bottom flaps of corrugated
cases. Then, the cases travel to a partition insert-
er that erects and inserts either a corrugated or
chipboard grid into the case. After the bottles are
packed, the case goes to a top case sealer that clos-
es and seals the top flaps. Finally, [the case goes] case sealer and palletizer. Or, a winery may decide
on to the palletizer.” to automate their palletizing, and we supply only
a palletizer,” Sinicrope said. “Many companies
A typical A-B-C winery client runs anywhere from are evaluating robotic equipment, and we offer
15 to more than 20 cases per minute. Sinicrope robotic packers and palletizers as well. So, I would
added that while there are trends, the purchase of say, although there are trends, the equipment pur-
end-of-line packaging machinery depends upon a chased depends on the application.”
robust assessment of a winery client’s need.
For small wineries packing fewer than ten cases
“A winery transitioning from reshippers to bulk per minute, the cost to fully mechanize every
may need a depalletizer, case erector, and par- aspect of end-of-line packaging might be prohib-
tition inserter, and use their existing packer, top itive. Therefore, many opt to perform end-of-line
packing functions manually. However, Sinicrope
said that A-B-C offers a semi-automatic palletizer
that can improve productivity for small wineries
looking to automate this specific element of end-of-
line packaging.

“Fully packed wine cases are heavy, and palletiz-
ing can be labor-intensive, even at low speeds. In
addition, there is a potential for liability because of
the repetitive motion of the task. Our semi-auto-
matic palletizer lets one operator slide cases into
the pallet pattern at the conveyor level. Then the
layer is lifted and placed into pallet formation. The
machine eliminates the repetitive lifting and poten-

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