Products
Packserv’s ambitious tech and machinery upgrade by Allison Kayo, Packserv
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Powered floor cranes – saving bucks and backs
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ack King has seen a significant increase in sales of its powered floor cranes for heavy maintenance industries. Because they are mobile, there is no need to wait for an overhead crane, the crane is simply powered to the object. The operator controls the crane through the tiller, the console-mounted levers or the remote pendant control. The heavy pump or gearbox sitting on the pallet can be hooked up and deposited on the workbench with no effort. It’s even handier when a heavy shaft is shipped to the workshop in a crate. Simply sling the shaft without breaking the crate — it is then ready for re-crating when repaired. Powered mobile cranes can also remove steel sheets from a rack using one or more magnets. Far safer than juggling a
heavy and large sheet onto a cutting bed, it’s more cost-effective using one person instead of two, plus there is no delay waiting for a forklift, because no licence is required to drive a powered floor crane. Want to pick up and rotate a steel 200 Ltr drum? One attachment makes this possible. Another attachment is a ‘spreader bar’ for those long pieces of steel or timber. How about placing a 200 Ltr drum from the floor onto a tray truck using the rim grip scissor option? Pack King’s powered floor crane is a very versatile crane which saves backs and bucks every day. Pack King packking.com.au
76 | Industry Update Issue 133 Aug/Sep 2023
year of uncertainty fell upon us rather suddenly in 2023 when, like many other businesses in FMCG and manufacturing in Australia, rapid and rather dramatic changes occurred in both our market and our business. It seems every week we are seeing businesses closing down, being sold and some big names getting administrators and liquidators appointed. Not a picture of stability and ease in terms of trading conditions in the current market, but at Packserv the team have chosen to take this time to re-invent themselves, or rather… their primary range of products. “For a long time now, we have wanted to make various ambitious and dramatic changes to our key product line, but time and workload have always been against us. “While trying to keep up with the demand of our customer requirements from the rental fleet and simultaneously accommodating tight lead times for customised manufactured machinery, our design and innovations team have been toiling away in discrete parts of the factory working on what our manufactured range of machinery is going to look like by 2024,” said Nathan Wardell, Packserv Managing Director. This new tech and range of machinery is set to be on display at the first APPEX
exhibition for innovative packaging and processing – the new and much bigger Auspack – and will be held in Melbourne in March 2024. “Lots of other businesses have adopted Industry 4.0 technology and components, but without actually adding any real improvements to the machinery,” said Wardell. “The real purpose behind putting that level of intelligence into a packaging machine is to improve manufacturing functionality, performance, reliability, quality and speed of output. If the machine does exactly the same thing as before you put the tech in it — what was the point?” Wardell knows his team has a good handle on how this new tech is going to enhance Packserv’s production lines, but it’s a big leap to move from the current level of functionality to the new target. “Our machinery and manufacturing division is constantly improving and the machinery being produced from our factory is leaps and bounds ahead of our previous range, something we are really proud of,” said Wardell. Packserv packserv.com.au
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