Gentle handling bucket conveyor moves antacid tablets

As you know, the sales cycle for UniTrak equipment is often a lengthy one. It can take several years from the initial contact with the customer to the final shipment of the order.  We look to our sales reps as an extension of our head office, to maintain contact with these leads during this cycle, and to provide them with solutions to their unique challenges as they evolve.

We recently supplied seven TipTrak™ bucket conveyors for an over-the-counter pharmaceutical company.  These sales were made possible because of the strong relationship that had developed between our rep and the customer. Back in 2010, we were approached at the Powder Show by this customer, and then again at the Pack Expo show in the fall of 2012. They were interested in the capabilities of our TipTrak™ conveyor to move antacid tablets. Specifically, they were impressed by the gentle handling of the TipTrak™ and the interlocking buckets.

The plant was located in in St. Louis, Missouri, the territory of FormPak Inc. After visiting the customer’s plant, Larry Markos, of FormPak Inc. could see the challenges and what was needed to meet them.

They needed a gentle handling bucket conveyor to:

• virtually spillage-free – to replace the belt conveyor with spillage issues
• portable – to enable them to be moved to the cleaning zone when required
• and provided personnel safety – the existing belt conveyors were hazardous

From these visits and in consultation with UniTrak, FormPak Inc. suggested that their operations needed our TT500 Open Tubular model and a quotation was prepared in early January of 2013. The customer ordered one TipTrak™ in August with the promise of more to come. In February of 2014, Larry visited the customer again and more options and refinements were made to the TipTrak™ design.

The customer issued the second PO last April for six more TT500 bucket conveyors. The following highlighted options made it truly a tailored unit:

• special deflectors on the vertical & upper curve section to deflect and prevent any product from accumulating
• clean-out drawers under lower horizontal section – the tablets tend to bounce easily and irregularly
• custom dust collection – two dust collection connections with hard pipe from the ports to a common, single (easily accessible) connection to the in-house dust collector
• discharge chute – specially designed rectangular to round chute (with Tri-Clover ® sanitary fitting) and an allowance for interior “easy let down” guides – a specialty of the gentle handling bucket conveyor
• stainless steel control panel with VFD. Units were fully wired – ready to plug in and operate
• portable base – from type 304 stainless steel includes 4 casters – two swivel with locks and two rigid.

In addition to being able to customize the TipTrak™ to fit their precise needs, our customer experienced a very “hands on” rep, who made themselves available to be onsite for installation. Ensuring that the customer is fully satisfied, is utmost on the mind of FormPak Inc., as we know it is with all UniTrak reps.

FormPak Inc. have been in the material handling industry since 1968. As representatives they cover Kansas, Southern Illinois & Missouri for UniTrak. They have been selling TipTrak™ bucket conveyors for 19 ½ years.

To learn more about Open TipTrak™ bucket conveyor systems and how they might fit into your production assembly, visit these pages on our site: TipTrak or feel free to contact us about your unique application 1-866-883-5749.