Webb to supply SmartCart to Western Container
Jervis B. Webb Company today announced two new contracts with Western Container Corporation. Jervis is a subsidiary of Daifuku Co. Ltd. and leading provider of material handling solutions and Western Container is a premier manufacturer of plastic bottles.
Under the contract, Webb will supply five SmartCart® AGC Automatic Guided Carts (AGCs) to Western Container’s facility in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and three SmartCart to its facility in Tolleson, Ariz. Webb recently installed four SmartCart at Western Container’s facility in Fife, Wash.
SmartCart are flexible, low-cost Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) which are the best solution for moving products on an assembly line or transporting goods throughout a plant or warehouse. Guided by magnetic tape, the guidepath of the SmartCart can be installed or modified in as little as a few hours.
The SmartCart which has been chosen by Western Container are equipped with counterbalanced forks which allow the Cart to pick up a large bin from a gravity roller conveyor station. The bins are filled with preforms, which are in-process plastic bottles produced by injection molding machines. The SmartCart transports the bin to a lid removal station, where the lid is removed from the bin. Next, the SmartCart travels to a designated dumping station, where the preforms are dumped into a hopper and fed into a blow molding machine that forms the bottles into their final shape.
The entire process just over two minutes to complete and during this process the SmartCart recharges its batteries at a nearby charging station. When the dumping process is completed, the SmartCart picks up the empty bin and delivers it to an automated bin stacking device. After that, the SmartCart returns to the gravity roller station, where the entire process starts over.
“We are pleased to expand our business with Western Container by providing our SmartCarts to two additional facilities,” said Bruce Buscher, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Webb. “Our SmartCarts will help Western Container increase efficiency, reduce operating costs and streamline processes.”
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