With the popularity of sports nutrition products booming in South Africa and beyond, Globepak, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the USN Group of Companies, needed to keep pace with growing demand. However, the intermediate bulk containers and rigid auger conveyors at the company’s former 4,000m2 facility were unable to transfer mixtures from blenders to packaging machines at required rates.
“They were starving the packaging lines,” said Jose Da Costa, head of DC Weighing and Control, the firm that engineered and built Globepak’s new 14,000 m2 plant.
Completed in 2021, the facility employs larger blenders and high-speed packaging machines, which were fed by a new automated bulk transfer system supplied by Flexicon Africa. Each of the plant’s seven lines spans 15m and relies on a Flexicon model BFC BULK-OUT bulk bag discharger with a 250-litre capacity hopper and a 4.5m-long flexible screw conveyor to transfer mixed ingredients from bulk bags to packaging machines.
“All are under automated control for continuous filling and accurate package weights,” said Waldo van der Walt, Globepak general manager.
The full article can be found here.
