Coffee is by far the most popular drink in Germany. According to statistics, coffee lovers drink 146 litres per person per year. Many transport and production steps are necessary before the exotic bean ends up in the cup as a steaming drink. The roastery plays an important role here. It is a long way from the complex roasting process to the shop shelf.

Technical problems have to be solved and many regulations have to be observed that are stipulated by German food law and the IFS Food (International Featured Standards Food). The transport of coffee products within the roasting plants also needs to be well planned and professionally realised. Coffee varieties in different packaging must be transported from the filling plant to the packaging station.

Comprehensive requirements
At the request of a large German coffee roasting company, MiniTec developed a comprehensive material flow solution that perfectly met the diverse requirements. The fact that MiniTec has specialised in solutions for material flow and automation for many years and is ideally equipped for these issues with its GKF link chain conveyor system, the modular profile system and components such as spiral conveyors was an advantage here. A customised intralogistics solution was required to enable the transport of coffee cans and packaging bags between the filling line and carton packaging. Around 1.2 kilometres over various levels and high speed with very smooth running - these were just some of the requirements.

Safe travel over 1.2 kilometres
As soon as the coffee packaging starts its 1.2 kilometre journey from the filling station in the roasting plant, there are height differences to overcome and switches and distribution stations to pass, usually in a very confined space. This is where the design advantages of the GKF system, which is equipped with modular belt chains in track widths of 152 and 229 millimetres for use in the food industry, really come into their own.

The many standard components of the modular system, which enable the realisation of horizontal and vertical curves, are an advantage here. But also curve wheels for tight radii, flat top chains made of plastic or steel, roller, carrier and accumulation roller chains as well as various motors. And drives with frequency inverters are available for infinitely variable conveyor speeds.

Over hill and dale with a spiral conveyor
The local conditions posed a challenge for the material flow, as a large part of the conveyor system had to be installed under the hall ceiling at a height of three to five metres. Fire protection regulations also had to be taken into account. These required the conveyor lines to be routed through fire protection walls with fire protection doors and source bodies in confined spaces. Nine storage towers, each with a conveyor section of 50 metres, were integrated to ensure a constant material flow even at full load. The production halls of the roasting plant are criss-crossed by conveyor lines over several levels.

Reduced energy consumption
The client also required a high level of energy efficiency for the system. The MiniTec technicians were able to realise this with economical electric motors, demand-controlled speed regulation and line shutdowns when idling. In addition to MiniTec quality components, high-quality drives and control systems were also installed to achieve a high level of reliability. For the drive, 74 SEW drive motors with field distributor 7 and Profibus control are used, while a Siemens S7 Safety PLC with 180 inputs and outputs handles the control tasks.

Always in the right position
Another special feature arose during operation of the system: the coffee packets had to be placed in a defined position. Special feature: The packs had to be turned over with the base facing forwards, for which a deflector rail was initially used. However, because the cycle time was to be increased from 40 to 60 units per minute, this process was no longer suitable. The MiniTec technicians developed a ‘turning star’ for this purpose. This is a circular construction in which the coffee packets are turned forwards by turning blades. Before realisation, however, it was necessary to check whether this would also work in practice. Due to the high cycle speed in particular, we wanted to ensure that there would be no problems later on, for example that the packets would not get stuck or burst open.