Golden Bay Fruit Increases Throughput by Over 48% With an Intralox ARB Switch

Customer Objectives

At their facility in Motueka, New Zealand, Golden Bay Fruit pools apples from several intergenerational family-owned orchards for packaging. The company packs product 6–7 months each year, exporting fruit to over 25 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

During their first season using a new slat switch at the line’s back end, a serious problem emerged. Between the case sealers and palletizing system, the 2 x 2 slat switch was causing a major bottleneck in throughput. Sized to move 27 boxes per minute at maximum capacity, the slat switch was slower than the case sealers feeding it and the palletizers following it. On days they couldn’t hit their production target, Golden Bay had to schedule overtime labor to clear the jammed cartons.

Besides its low capacity, the slat switch didn’t offer an option to divert product to a third, manual palletizing lane in case the automatic palletizing system went down. At times, the slats would slip under the boxes, failing to grip them and leaving cartons stranded. The slat switch was also noisy and highly unreliable, requiring significant maintenance after each packing season.

Golden Bay started looking for other options. They needed a reliable case switch system that would meet their capacity target while feeding a third exit where cartons could be sent for manual stacking during peak production times.

Intralox Execution

After an initial conversation to understand Golden Bay’s challenges, we connected their team with Intralox’s Packer to Palletizer specialists. Our experts worked closely with plant engineers to address their issues effectively while meeting Golden Bay’s budget goals. Intralox performed simulations to debug, demonstrate, and recommend a solution. Confident to move forward, Golden Bay chose the Intralox Activated Roller Belt (ARB) Switch S7000 configured with two entry points and three exit points—exactly what the plant needed.

Two lanes from the case sealers feed the ARB Switch, which switches the boxes to either robotic palletizing (two outgoing lanes) or manual palletizing (one outgoing lane). Since the project began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire consultation and selling processes were executed remotely among Golden Bay, their local OEM, and Intralox.

Results

Within a week after installation, the line was running smoothly. Compared to the old slat switch’s capacity of 27 boxes per minute, Intralox’s ARB Switch handles 40 boxes per minute, which matches the higher capacity of the case sealer feeding it.

Plus, the back end of the line now has a manual palletizing lane. This allows staff to bypass the automatic palletizer entirely in case of issues with that system and for manual palletizing to keep the line running. There’s been no unplanned downtime due to the ARB Switch, and general maintenance is much easier and less frequent.

Officials with Golden Bay were pleased with the technical assistance they received from Intralox’s Australian and Chinese teams. It’s been smooth sailing on the line since installation, and they’re impressed with the functionality, speed, throughput, and overall quality of Intralox’s ARB technology.