EFAFLEX in Use for Beverage Bottles
Before beer, mineral water, milk and other drinks and beverages can find their way into our shopping trollies, they have had to travel a long way that is full of obstacles. On their journey from the bottling plant to the specialist beverage store, the drinks often meet EFAFLEX doors, which create the best conditions for transporting the bottles quickly and safely. EFAFLEX Sales Manager Emrah Kirkulak gives us an insight into the exciting world of the beverage industry today and reveals what challenges the sector poses for industrial doors.
It has to be quick process when beverage bottles reach the end of the filling process and see the light of day – or in their case, the dim artificial light of the cool production hall. Thousands of these containers pass through a filling and packaging system every day; sealed, bundled wrapped or moved by robotic arms into beverage crates and palletised. "All of this is fully automated," emphasizes EFAFLEX Sales Manager Emrah Kirkulak, while in the background you can hear the constant, dull rattling of bottles. "So that there are no delays, every cog of the wheel has to mesh seamlessly - both when filling in the production hall and during transport to the warehouse, to the logistics department, to the customer and back again." Up to 120,000 bottles are processed in large systems per hour filled and packed - a logistical challenge for everyone involved.
“To ensure that this cycle can run smoothly, our EFAFLEX engineers have developed high-speed doors that keep crossing the path of the bottles throughout their life cycle. We virtually accompany you from the cradle to the grave,” Kirkulak says with a wink.
Strong bodyguards: machine protection doors for bottling plants
The use of EFAFLEX often starts with the filling of the bottles: “Although the filling process is automatic, there are always people nearby. For example, one person has to oversee the system,” says the door expert, who specialises in advising beverage manufacturers and retailers. "Our machine protection doors not only protect the systems from damage, they also act as bodyguards here: They ensure that people are not injured during the production process”. “This doortype can be easily integrated into protective devices due to their space-saving and compact design.”
Coping with "forklift truck traffic"
If the bottles leave the machine on pallets, speed is essential. So that it does not jam at the end of the line and the optimum temperatures are maintained, forklifts must take the goods quickly and bring them to the warehouse. "Especially in the area of high-performance bottling, in which several hundred thousand bottles are filled every day, the fully packed pallets must be removed from the system as quickly as possible in order to make space," Kirkulak describes the urgency. "That is why there is ‘forklift truck traffic' around the facility that picks up the bottles from the facility every second and sends them on their journey."
Fast, robust and reliable all-rounders
An EFAFLEX door that separates the production hall from the warehouse often paves the way for them. “Above all, these doors have to be fast, robust and reliable,” Emrah Kirkulak summarises. The versatile STR® and STT® turbo roller doors are particularly suitable for this location. It is not for nothing that logisticians call them the “all-rounders”. "Thanks to rapid opening cycles of up to 3 metres per second, they ensure that the temperatures in the production hall and in the storage area remain constant, and that the work processes for beverage filling runs smoothly."
The gateway to the outside world
However, the area of responsibility of EFAFLEX does not end in the warehouse: doors are also needed to separate the warehouse from the loading bays and thus from the outside world: “No heat can penetrate from outside either. Otherwise sensitive drinks could spoil. In this case too, the EFA-SST® is the solution: incorporating thermally separated EFA-THERM® insulating laths as standard, excellent tightness is achieved depending on the size of the door. In addition, the door blade is exceptionally robust and durable,” emphasizes Kirkulak. "It is also sound-absorbing, to keep noise to a minimum." Thanks to the fast opening and closing speeds, little energy is lost, saving time and money.
Safety first with anti-crash system and laser scanner
"As in all other businesses, safety applies here as well." The door expert therefore recommends equipping the models with the active crash system EFA-ACS®, which not only protects the door from damage and thus from operational failure and repairs, but also even self-repair is done fully automatically in a few seconds.
“For the entrepreneur however, it is equally important that no one is injured and that no bottle breaks during transport," said Kirkulak. “Our patented EFA-SCAN® laser scanner for use at the doors helps prevent accidents. This is a real innovation that seamlessly monitors the entire area in front of the door using intelligent direction detection.” The scanner can even detect cross traffic and precisely distinguish which vehicle is approaching the door and which is passing by. It only opens when a forklift really wants to exit and only closes when there is no obstacle at door height in order to prevent collisions.
Flexible solutions for the beverage trade
"When the bottles leave their 'place of birth' to set off for the wider world, we don't leave them to themselves," laughs Kirkulak.
“There is a high probability that you will encounter an EFAFLEX door again at the beverage wholesaler, in the specialist trade or in the supermarket. After all, we also have suitable solutions available for dealers.”
As there is usually a high volume of people and goods, there are also EFAFLEX high-speed doors, such as the PVC film roller shutter with or without collision protection that is very popular.
The cycle begins again
Once the end customer has enjoyed the drink they have purchased, the bottle usually makes its way, recycled back through the drinks market. Here too, EFAFLEX doors are often used to protect the empties area and protect them from vandals. In the end, the bottles are returned to the manufacturing companies, where they are cleaned, sorted out and refilled.
"The cycle then starts all over again," says Emrah Kirkulak.