ARB Singulation Eliminates Jams, Reduces Labor for Marie

Marie, a French company specializing in chilled and frozen ready-to-eat foods, has a commitment to investing in long-term solutions in each of its six plants. Two spiral freezers at the Airvault plant each hold 7,700 kilos of product at a time. Ready-to-eat meal trays exit the freezers in random arrangement. To single-file the products on both lines, the plant was using side rail systems. Because the side rail systems caused frequent product jams (2-3 per day) and ensuing product damage, the plant assigned one operator per shift to properly orient the products in order to minimize jams.

Intralox recommended replacing the conveyor side rail system with an Activated Roller Belt (ARB) singulation solution, which provides automated singulation without the use of side rails or complicated mechanical controls. Intralox helped Marie design the new conveyor layout and assisted its local OEM to manufacture the new Intralox-equipped singulation conveyor.

Marie no longer designates one operator per shift to prevent jams at the spiral outfeeds. The new Intralox singulation system has eradicated product jams and product damage during singulation, as well as improved safety by eliminating the moving parts of the old side rail systems.