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Bulk Bag Unloader Alleviates Back Problems for Major Industrial Coatings Manufacturer

Customer Requirements

Bulk bag unloader
Front view of Bulk Bag Unloader

A customer who produces coatings for architectural finishes needed a better way to process one of the functional chemicals used to produce its paint based product.

– Previously the product was delivered in 220lb/ 100kg bags that were manually emptied into a storage silo that fed digesters.

– Manually emptying such heavy bags caused back injuries for operators resulting in pain and loss of company time.

– The silo which fed the digesters was mounted on a mezzanine floor with a low, sloping overhead roof.

– A bulk bag unloader was clearly needed because the functional chemical was being delivered in such heavy bags

– It was clear from the onset that the unloader would need to be retrofit into the available space.

– The mezzanine floor was not accessible by forklift truck so the bulk bags would need to be hoisted on to the unloader.

The Engineering Project Manager was challenged with the problem and contacted Spiroflow for a solution.

Spiroflow Solution

Rear pic unloader
View from the rear of the Unloader

Spiroflow engineers visited the site to determine how a bulk bag unloader could be best installed. For this complicated application, the unloader would be suspended through the mezzanine floor.

The only compromise would be that operators would have to kneel to reach the dust cabinet in order to untie the neck of the bulk bags – a small price to pay for the heavy lifting that was previously required.

– Forklift trucks lift the material from the ground floor to the mezzanine floor.

– It is then moved to the front of the bulk bag unloader by an electric pallet truck and hoisted into place by an ultra low-profile electric hoist that runs along a runway beam.

– During a typical two-shift day, three bulk bags are emptied.

Spiroflow supplied the hoist plus all electronic controls for the bulk bag unloader and its integral conveyor.

The Engineering Project Manager is pleased with the installation and the custom design of the new Spiroflow Bulk Bag Unloader. He commented, “Our operators are pleased with the new system and the company is no longer experiencing the lost man hours. And, of course, there are the additional benefits of lower cost materials when bought in bulk and less waste with reusable bulk bags.”

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