Automated solution increases productivity

Axiom GB has manufactured and installed an automated packing solution at Lakeland's mail order distribution centre in Kendal. The new system has been designed to almost double the productivity of the operation while reducing costs and presenting a neat parcel to the customer.

At the start of the picking process, Axiom's automated packing solution presents boxes from the carton erector machines to the packers - either a large box from the upper level conveyor or a smaller one from the lower level. At this stage a small barcode has already been applied to box, the packer assigns an order number to the barcode and then packs the order from the picking trolley before placing it on the middle conveyor.

This 'takeaway' conveyor transports the boxes of completed orders to one of two lidding machines. Here the system senses the height of the products inside the box, it scores and folds the box down to the appropriate height, then applies the lid.

Scanning the barcode further around the system allows the correct address label to be applied. The conveyor then takes the parcel to the dispatch bay where it goes into the back of a waiting trailer via a boom loader.