Huelva, Spain-based CORA, one of Europe’s leading strawberry grower cooperatives, requires high-speed handling and packaging equipment to accommodate rapid turnover of its delicate and perishable fresh fruit. The strawberries must be sorted, packaged, and shipped as soon as possible after harvesting to ensure fresh quality at the marketing and consumption levels.
The conveyor belt system in place at the packaging facility was aging and not performing sufficiently to meet CORA’s needs. So the co-op commissioned a systems integrator Construcciones Mecanicas Santa Gema S.L. (Phone: 011/34.959.38.4656)—located in the city of Lepe, Huelva Province—to construct a new transport system, replacing large sections of the old conveyor. The new system is a “VarioFlow” VF90 chain conveyor from Bosch Rexroth Corp.(www.boschrexroth-us.com) with a 90-millimeter chain width that allows optimal transport of the strawberries in curved sections of the conveyor.
According to CORA’s production manager Manuel Piedra Chaves, “We knew about Rexroth’s quality and reliability. Santa Gema also reported past positive experience with the chain conveyor system.”
Easy integration
The wide range of standardized curves and arcs available with the VarioFlow system enabled the conveyor to be customized for easy installation into CORA’s available floor space. Santa Gema manager Juan Manuel Cruz Soler explains, “Because the chain conveyor system was to be integrated in the middle section of the existing installation, the flexible and modular construction of the VarioFlow was a real benefit. We were able to adapt the system to the existing conveyor belt parts without any problem at all, set up discharge points to individual work stations, and link the automatic labeling and packaging stations.”
