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The November meeting of the Australian Institute of Packaging [AIP] took the form of a plant visit when members and guests visited Visy Automation in the outer Melbourne suburb of Coolaroo.

Visy Automation was formed in 1978 and specialises in the engineering and integration of high quality packaging equipment and robotic solutions designed to increase productivity, profitability and plant safety levels. The visitors came away with an understanding that almost all disciplines within the domain of Packaging Technology can be automated in some form or another. At this stage writing reports is not automated so it is up to me to tell the story!

Adam Lipscomb, Visy Automations’ Sales Manager for Projects, gave a most “automating” overview of the operation when he addressed the audience. Not one umming or arring or repeated comment came forth over fifteen to twenty minutes at the podium or three quarters of an hour on the shop floor; at the end although his voice was scratchy his enthusiasm had not diminished.

Team Automation comprises of dynamic engineers and development partners with significant experience in the packaging systems and flexible automation industries, offering customers full automation consultancy and project management services, the design and manufacture of special purpose machinery, control systems design and development, as well as all the necessary equipment support, service and training.

Adam related that he recently met a person who was confused as to the Visy business whether it was in packaging materials or automation. His response was that the two are intrinsically linked and that there is an obvious “synergy” between packaging material and packaging automation.

The stand out advice was that “in the competitive world market anywhere you can improve productivity and reduce OH&S risks you can achieve an overall business advantage” and in defence of redundancy it was mentioned that only “low value added” positions are generally replaced by automation. Underpinning automation there is always the desire to retain staff, knowledge and provide for more skilled employment with the resultant higher wages.

“in the competitive world market anywhere you can improve productivity and reduce OH&S risks you can achieve an overall business advantage”

Visy Automation claims to be the only packaging organisation “fair dinkum” about automation and is exporting its technology to the world. With eleven packaging partners across the globe and a joint venture in the USA – HartnessVisy Automation, Visy Automation has expectations of achieving US$80million in global sales by 2010.

Adam presented a number of Visy’s successful automated solutions including a high speed robotic palletising system from the HartnessVisy Automation joint venture that is palletising 120 cartons a minute and an innovative tray former that has cut cardboard wastage from 3% to 1%.

The high speed palletiser outlined cost approximately US$0.6M to install but delivered over a million dollars worth savings from light-weighting bottles alone compared to older ‘legacy’ palletising systems. The system is installed into one of the industries that Visy Automation targets and holds forth in the Visy Vision Statement “To be the most successful, innovative, customer relationship-orientated and cost efficient provider of packaging and recycling services to the Australasian food, beverage and primary industries”

Visy Automation builds all systems in house using the best available robotics and offers clients:-

• The design, manufacture and construction of stand-alone packaging equipment
• The supply, integration and support for world class 3rd party equipment
• Automation and Packaging System project feasibility and specification
• Project Management and facilitation services
• Cost benefit analysis for automation and packaging systems projects
• Development of long-term plant wide packaging and automation strategies

The automation of packaging systems can only make Australian Industry more internationally competitive increasing exports and decreasing our reliance on imports and Team Automation is waiting for your call.

The evening concluded with a presentation to the host and an automatic gravitation to a local watering hole to consider the messages received.

by Michael B Halley FAIP
Australian Institute of Packaging
www.aipack.com.au

Visy Automation
www.visyautomation.com.au

Comments

Posted by: Ash at December 8, 2009 04:30 PM

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