Cement producer finds the right blend of packaging solutions

Calucem is a manufacturer of calcium aluminate cements used in the refractory industry. After the company replaced its previous packaging line with new filling, palletizing and packaging systems, it simplified material movement and improved energy efficiency.

After manufacturing, different cement mixtures are ground, filled into bags, then palletized, packaged in film and transported to customers and retailers. “Up until now, we had used systems that were high energy intensive and high in maintenance,” says Alfred Blažina, managing director of the cement plant. Calucem employees were responsible for changing the filling system from one cement mixture to another, which was never a trouble-free process.

The new filling machine uses an air principle popular in food and beverage applications as opposed to turbine technologies common in cement industries. The technology simplifies changeover and reduces the need for manual labor. An ultrasound system ensures precise measurement of the bags before they are palletized at up to 600 bags per hour, resulting in optimal stack stability. A suction gripper and fork gripper work together to allow exact positioning as well as the flexibility to handle complex processes.

Roller conveyors transport the palletized bags to the stretch hood packaging system. To simplify maintenance, the system enables servicing at floor level. The operator panel offers graphical navigation, access to training content and an ergonomic workflow. Overall, the new system (Beumer Group, beumergroup.com) is compact and uses less energy to automatically fill, palletize and depalletize bags.

“We now have a packaging line that is customized to our specific requirements,” Blažina says.