Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, as well as transit and protective packaging products, equipment and services to a broad range of end markets worldwide.

Crown approached Blackstar Handling Systems to supply conveyors for their full pallet conveying system in their beverage packaging site in Seville, Spain. The existing palletiser and full pallet conveyors at Seville are to be relocated to a new position in the plant and will therefore change to a revised layout using some of the existing and newly supplied conveyors.

All newly supplied conveyors are to transport full pallets of empty cans from the palletisers, through a strapper, automatic label application area, inspection conveyor and a wrapping machine to complete the packing specification.

A total of 16 conveyors were manufactured and supplied by Blackstar, 2 turntable bi-directional, 2 chain bi-directional, 2 roller bi-directional, 1 chain conveyor, 3 chain lift conveyors, 2 gravity & 4 roller conveyors. All pockets were designed to adhere to the following customer performance specs required by crown:

Speed
Approx.16 mtr/p/m @ 50Hz.

Can damage
No damage to cans which may mechanically or visually impair their performance or appearance in the subsequent shipping and filling processes.

Maintenance
Maintenance and normal cleaning shall be possible during a monthly 8 hour shut- down and an annual overhaul must be possible in less than 5 days.

Pack Quality
Each layer of cans must be retained within the bounds of the layer pad. Vertical miss-alignment over the full height of a “Tall Pack” must not exceed 10mm. No shunting of the layers or T/F.

Reliability
Unplanned downtime shall not exceed 0.5% or approximately 3.5 hours per month due to machine failure.

Spoilage
Zero

Blackstar completed the manufacturing and supply of all 16 pockets to time and to coincide with the start-up at Seville.