New Crate Loader Promises Wide-Ranging Flexibility.

G.Mondini has recently launched its latest end-of-line crate loaders here in Australia, the MCL 70, and the MCL 140, each capable of packaging 70 and 140 trays per minute and can be utilised as a stand-alone module or fully integrated into existing lines.

This latest offering from Mondini, through exclusive distributor Select Equip, brings with it a string of features that have been designed to address existing issues in the crate loading space.

Select Equip Marketing and Sales Director, James White, said “while there were plenty of crate loading solutions on the market, G.Mondini’s MCL crate loaders are different.

Most of the other companies are what they call ‘end of line specialists’, so there are inherent issues in other systems,” he said.

Whereas G.Mondini builds its system based on a good understanding of pre-form trays. They have built a system that is capable of handling any tray packaging material currently available on the market, such as PET tray, paper, and aluminium, all through the same system.

It effectively uses similar technology as tray sealers for collating the trays, where the trays themselves never collide, which is what makes it unique.

Another issue facing the market today, labour shortages, is also addressed with the new G.Mondini Crate Loader range, the MCL 70 and MCL 140.

The MCL series is unique in the fact it can be a standalone unit, dropped into any factory and fed by any tray sealer. This can help prevent labour shortages on the lines,” said White.

The system is also flexible in that it can be installed and integrated into an existing system, with speeds of up to 3.6m/s with a position repeatability of 0,1 mm and can pick up, whether single or dual lines and is compatible with short and long edge leading crate feeding systems.

“Mondini can start with an empty tray to seal it in any packaging format you need,” said White. 

If the tray sealer’s capacity is going up and down, then it can feed that information to the crate loader. It’s about having user-friendly systems, you have a tray sealer which is easily linked to a crate loader.

This creates even more data available from the source, rather than having multiple pieces of equipment trying to extract what is happening to your line, from an operating perceptive.

All of those things go towards making production efficiency easier for manufacturers.

Our existing Mondini clients can start using this crate loader immediately because the user experience behind the system is the same as a tray sealer. It’s about having similar typology all the way through one line, which becomes easier for an operator with a uniform approach and adds even more elements of ease for operators.

G.Mondini’s systems are always designed with the future in mind, White said, as a means of creating systems that won’t go out of date any time soon. Regardless of what the retailers want, you already have a system that doesn’t become redundant.

The industry is constantly changing. Effectively most things we do are retail focused, so you address the issues which now are around labour and retailers having to rapidly change their offerings.

How they do that is by changing packaging materials. The system is built around this, people playing with different packaging materials.

“I don’t see it as labour reduction, I say it allows you to take that workforce and use it somewhere else, deploy it to areas which can’t be automated, as opposed to having people stuck packing a tray. The redeploying of the finite resource of labour to other areas is more important these days.

“We have customers who aren’t running some lines because they can’t find the staff to do it. The aim is to create systems that address the wants of the market today while being capable of meeting unknown changes in the future.

The flexibility of the MCL systems extends beyond operators and into industries, such as fresh produce.

The system is transportable for the fresh produce industry, so you can move it to different pack sheds depending on the season. You also have versatility in packaging configuration and in that the systems can be moved seasonally” said White.

Flexibility is one of the most important factors in the new Mondini crate loaders, which also run on a two or three-axis, which gives further flexibility in picking positions and different tray loading combinations.

“The system can receive short or long edge leading configurations, which means however the trays are arriving, either portrait or landscape it won’t matter,” said White.

The return of investment is another area that White advised differentiates the Mondini models from others. If you’re running single shift five days a week the return on investment is two years,” he said.

“It’s about having systems which are capable of handling what the market wants, not only today but in the future.

Other features of the MCL 70 and MCL 140 include an ergonomic design, perfect stability, ease of inspection, a common platform, and a wide range of settings.

The G.Mondini crate loaders are the perfect end-of-line solution either as a stand-alone module or fully integrated into your existing line.

CONTACT THE TEAM TODAY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MONDINI CRATE LOADERS