Irish drinks manufacturer boosts throughput by automating vertical transport

A prominent Irish beverage manufacturer has achieved a major uplift in operational performance, safety, and hygiene by installing a Qimarox Prorunner mk5 vertical conveyor system.

Integrated by local partner Noreside Engineering, the project successfully solved a critical bottleneck in the final packaging process, offering significant benefits not only to the manufacturer but setting a benchmark for the wider drinks industry.

Driven by increasing consumer demand and expanded production capacity, the manufacturer’s existing reliance on manual labour and forklifts for vertical transport of packaged beverages created major inefficiencies, delays, and unsafe working environments.

The new system addresses these challenges head-on by automating the vertical movement of beverage packaging from the production floor to higher levels for palletisation. The heart of the solution, the Qimarox Prorunner mk5, is a continuous vertical transport system known for its high throughput, which directly translates to:

Increased speed and flow: the manufacturer now experiences greater flow without stagnation, ensuring a smooth, high-capacity movement of goods from the packaging machine through to distribution. For the drinks industry, this proven technology means faster response times to market demand and optimized throughput.

Enhanced safety and space utilisation: by automating the vertical lift, the manufacturer has significantly reduced manual handling and the need for forklifts, leading to a safer working environment and optimal use of valuable production floor space — a constant challenge in high-volume facilities.

Uncompromised hygiene: crucially for the food and beverage sector, all components of the system are made of stainless steel and comply with strict Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG) guidelines. This commitment to hygienic design ensures that the system meets the industry’s stringent requirements for food production integrity.

Noreside Engineering, a system integrator with deep expertise in food automation, partnered with Qimarox to design a system that seamlessly integrated with the manufacturer’s existing conveyors.

The Prorunner mk5 was selected for its proven reliability in high-volume environments and its compact footprint, low energy consumption, and minimal maintenance needs. Furthermore, the modular design allows the beverage manufacturer to easily scale up capacity in the future, providing a critical level of investment security and adaptability against fluctuating market demands.

The successful implementation demonstrates how investing in specialised, hygienic vertical transport technology can significantly improve a drinks company’s supply chain performance, taking its operational safety and efficiency to the next level.