Ergonomic handling in animal feed logistics |
24 February 26 | Reading time: 5 minutes
The pet food market is growing steadily. And with it, the demands on production, intralogistics and dispatch: ever-expanding product ranges, frequent product changes and heavy, irregularly shaped containers now characterise day-to-day operations. With our ergonomic lifting solutions, we support manufacturers and logistics managers in meeting these challenges in a cost-effective and ergonomic manner.
It is particularly at manual handover points between packaging machines, conveyor systems and dispatch warehouses that it is decided whether processes run smoothly or come to a standstill. This is where our vacuum lifting systems come into play: they enable high throughput whilst ensuring ergonomic and safe working conditions.
Challenges in intralogistics for pet food
Pets are increasingly being treated like humans. This trend is leading not only to rising sales volumes in the pet food sector, but above all to a growing variety of products. In pet food logistics today, a wide variety of packaging types are handled simultaneously: heavy bagged goods, cardboard boxes, tins and trays, film packaging, as well as buckets and canisters.
This diversity increases the complexity of intralogistics. Standardised processes are reaching their limits, and flexible, adaptable handling solutions are becoming a decisive competitive factor.
Why is ergonomic lifting technology beneficial in pet food logistics?
Despite modern conveyor technology and digital process control, the actual movement of goods is often still carried out manually. The physical strain involved is frequently underestimated. If an employee picks several hundred units per shift, each weighing 20 kilograms or more, the total load handled quickly adds up to several tonnes. Repeated lifting, turning and positioning leads, in the long term, to fatigue, a decline in performance and an increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders.
How can ergonomic working be made efficient?
Ergonomically designed workstations have a positive impact on throughput, line availability and staff retention. This is because drops in performance or absences due to illness are felt most acutely in precisely those process steps that are critical to overall throughput. Our Key Account Manager, Fabian Wenninghoff, shares his practical experience:
“A vacuum lifter often pays for itself simply by preventing one or two long-term absences per year.”
- Key Account Manager Fabian Wenninghoff.
Ergonomic lifting technology enables consistent cycle times to be maintained throughout the entire shift, regardless of physical fatigue. Occupational health and safety thus becomes an economically significant factor whilst simultaneously enhancing the attractiveness of the workplace.
Handling irregularly shaped containers safely and gently
In the animal feed industry, irregularly shaped and sometimes unstable containers dominate the material flow. Bagged goods, whose contents shift, place particular demands on handling, as the centre of gravity changes during the lifting process.
Added to this are the high demands placed on product protection: packaging acts as the product’s calling card. Damage or deformation affects the perceived quality. Vacuum hose lifters enable product handling that is particularly gentle on the material:
“Thanks to the even distribution of the holding force, packaging and delicate surfaces remain undamaged.” - Fabian Wenninghoff, Key Account Manager
Vacuum hose lifters as a solution for heavy bagged goods and cardboard boxes
Vacuum hose lifters have established themselves as a bridging technology between manual labour and full automation. It is crucial that they are individually tailored to the specific processes.
“Only systems that are optimally tailored to container types, weights and cycle rates are actually used in day-to-day operations.”
- Fabian Wenninghoff, Key Account Manager
Intuitive operation and a process-oriented design are therefore key success factors for the acceptance of these lifting systems in day-to-day operations.
quickLIFT: Ergonomic lifting aid for high cycle rates
For high-cycle pick-and-place processes, we recommend our quickLIFT vacuum hose lifter. Its one-handed operation enables fast, fluid movements of loads weighing up to 65 kilograms. This means that tasks which previously required two people can now be carried out safely by a single person.“Thanks to a 90° swivel head and a 360° turntable, the quickLIFT can be individually adapted to its place of use,” says Wenninghoff.
A variety of suction cups, such as bag suction cups , multi-suction suction cups , keg suction cups or crate grippers, ensure flexibility when handling different types of containers.
lightLIFT: Precise palletising of heavy loads
Where particularly precise positioning is required, such as when palletising heavy bagged goods, the lightLIFT with two-hand operation is used. Add-ons such as turntables or remote controls further enhance its adaptability. Thanks to the quick-change system, the grippers can be swapped out in a matter of seconds without the need for tools.
Integration of vacuum lifters into existing packaging and logistics lines
Our vacuum hose lifters can be integrated in a modular fashion at strategic points along existing lines, such as at the end of bagging stations or in the goods dispatch area. Swivelling bite jobs with large operating ranges allow for space-saving integration without restricting traffic routes.
“The low weight of the aluminium crane bite jibs minimises inertia and supports precise, fatigue-free working.”
- Fabian Wenninghoff, Key Account Manager
Ergonomic goods dispatch
Read how an ergonomically optimised goods dispatch area can reduce physical strain and increase the attractiveness of the workplace, particularly during peak order periods, in the ENO telecom case study from Nordhorn.
CONCLUSION:
Future-proof processes through ergonomic handling
The pet food market will continue to grow, posing challenges for the logistics behind it. Ergonomically designed workstations ensure that productivity and health and safety go hand in hand, even under high demands and during peak order periods. Vacuum lifting systems offer a flexible and easily implementable way to ensure stable, efficient and future-proof processes in the long term.
Click here for an overview of our vacuum hose lifters:
Click here for an overview of our hose lifters:
