IMI Cornelius Inc. manufactures beverage dispensing equipment ranging from frozen carbonated beverage dispensers to beer dispensers. When the company acquired a new account for its new soft drink dispensing product, it faced increased production demand.

The company decided that automating the facility was the best solution to handle this increase as well as improve overall production efficiency. Also, a flexible and responsive manufacturing system would allow the company to meet the needs of its global customer base.

IMI Cornelius installed a new conveyor system in its 45,000 square-foot facility located in Glendale Heights, IL. The system integrates live roller conveyors, zero pressure accumulation conveyors, spool transfers, a belt conveyor, and a chain-transfer segment into one streamlined flow.

"The new installation has already given us a number of important benefits," says Jeff Wright, director of operations. "It has reduced product handling and increased throughput. And at the same time, it's given us added control over product flow and manufacturing rates."

The system incorporates two U-shaped beverage dispensing assembly lines - one for the refrigeration decks, the other for the lower housing. Also, the system is compact, giving employees ample workspace. It allows for unimpeded communication while affording ready access to materials needed for product assembly. The system can be programmed to control the assembly rates for each day's production requirements.

Both assembly lines incorporate a series of five-foot work segments. That way the lines can be controlled to start and stop in predetermined time periods based on specific production requirements. When the assembly units are ready to move from one zone to another, a warning alarm sounds. This tells assembly line workers that in 30 seconds the conveyor will start up again. If a worker needs more time to finish a particular task, he or she can override the system.

The refrigeration decks and the lower housing units merge just before the final assembly line. A pneumatic overhead lift assists the operator with the insertion of the heavy refrigeration deck into the lower housing. Then, the beverage dispensing machines move to another zero pressure accumulation conveyor for the final assembly operations. Completed machines then move onto a belt conveyor mounted on a lift table. The table is lowered and the belt conveyor indexes them through a banding station where units are palletized.

The conveyor system keeps product moving through the facility smoothly and efficient. IMI Cornelius currently processes up to 130 beverage dispensers per shift. Meanwhile, the system is designed to handle future growth.