Leading bottling plant installs 53 MOVIGEAR units to boost production and operating efficiencies
MOVIGEAR is a decentralised drive technology system from SEW-EURODRIVE that offers key industries the ability to save on operating costs, while providing the latest in energy efficiency technology.
As a sector leader, SEW-EURODRIVE ensures that the latest global solutions are quickly implemented in South Africa, thus supporting critical industries important to the country‘s growth and economic recovery.
“Fifty-three of our cutting edge MOVIGEAR units have been installed over a six-week period at a local bottling plant in Gauteng,“ said Willem Strydom, Sales Manager at SEW-EURODRIVE. “Our client was looking for technology that would enhance the plant‘s high production output, while providing cost and energy efficiencies across their conveyor systems.”
Willem added that the solution not only offers a sustainable and substantial reduction in CO2 emissions, but also achieved up to 38% in energy savings on this specific project. The system reduces reactive power consumption compared to previous technology that operates directly on the supply system, therefore one hundred percent of the investment made by the bottling plant to date will be recouped within 13 months.
MOVIGEAR is a mechatronic drive system that is particularly suited to horizontal material-handling technologies. The drive electronics, motor and gear unit are combined in a mechatronic drive system, saving on cabling, installation and maintenance costs due to its compactness.
The system is particularly suited to the food, beverage and small manufacturing industries – all of which are critical sectors in South Africa.
The bottling sector complies with stringent health regulations in order to prevent contamination during their production processes. MOVIGEAR offers a smooth surface design based on local hygienic design guidelines that helps eliminate the need for additional fans as it utilizes a surface cooling process. These units can be specified to withstanding high pressure washing.
The MOVIGEAR sealed unit also offers a reduction in maintenance activity. For example, an oil analysis is only required once every three to four years, which therefore decreases operational costs. The solution is tried and tested, with customers running the system successfully for over seven years without issue.
Additionally the system offers the following advantages:
- The Single Line Network principle means that only one cable needs to be installed for energy and information transfer
- Simplified system planning and design
- Reduced number of variants due to wider speed range and universal mounting position
- Lower storage costs
- High degree of protection
- No air, dirt, or germ swirls
- Reduced energy costs due to high efficiency of all components
- High reliability due to systematic development of all components
- Reduces total and operating costs of the materials handling system
- The built-in Profinet communications protocol that forms part of the MOVIGEAR system reduces the need for extra topology as there are less moving parts.
“MOVIGEAR has proven to be highly reliable. Across clients in Europe we have seen significant benefits gained from the inclusion of the solution. A large bottling plant was able to boost production to 60,000 bottles per hour, while a beverage packaging plant was able to drive savings through energy efficiency. In South Africa, SEW-EURODRIVE is confident that this solution will continue to provide impressive cost, production and energy efficiencies for our customers across key sectors,“ concluded Willem.
