Interroll presented its new modular conveyor platform for internal logistics for the first time ever to an international audience at this year's CeMAT in Hanover. The innovative solution from the Swiss company, a world leader in core products and services for use in the area of internal logistics, has a completely modular design. Furthermore, the platform is Interroll's response to the challenges that today's and future material flow solutions face.

System integrators, equipment manufacturers, and end customers of Interroll were actively involved in the product development process from the very beginning by conducting a broad scale customer and user survey. The results show that operators of logistics centres and manufacturing companies must find ways to cope with increasingly unpredictable deviations in the flow of goods, changes in order structures and product assortments. Speed is therefore more important than ever before. Furthermore, companies must process an increasing number of smaller individual orders today.

 

Interroll's new modular conveyor platform can be flexibly adjusted to suit different customer and user-specific demands. Furthermore, it allows for modern material flow systems to be planned more quickly and easily. In combination with the world's leading drive concepts from Interroll, this results in material flow systems that are known for their maximum availability and energy efficiency, but also their extremely low operating and maintenance costs.

The new conveyor platform is the most important product introduction in the 55-year history of Interroll. As Paul Zumbühl, CEO of the Interroll Worldwide Group, explains: "The complete modularity of our new solution offers important advantages for our customers. This approach allows them to combine all of Interroll's most important products in a virtually unlimited manner to form a complete system. New systems can then be planned and realised faster, and existing systems can be easily modified to meet changing demands. This means our business partners can react quickly to new challenges and make the best possible use of their market opportunities regardless of where in the world they happen to be based. Furthermore, we will be intensifying our internationalisation course by marketing this product innovation on a global basis."

By launching its new conveyor platform, Interroll is reacting to the growing importance of efficient material flow to the business world and to the demands that will accompany Industry 4.0. "With their new conveyor platform, Interroll has got it right: modularity and scalability all the way, with plug & play modules and standard components. We have been involved in the product development process at an early stage, giving us the possibility to actively contribute ideas and suggest improvements where needed," Francis Meier, Managing Director of Swisslog AG's Technology Center in Switzerland, notes.

 

The main element of the new platform is a robust, modular system that incorporates the various key elements of conveying systems and can be assembled to form a complete material flow solution that renders the services needed. Thanks to the modular design of the platform, Interroll can also guarantee quick delivery times so that newly planned systems can be realised, installed, and put into operation extremely quickly. The modules are preassembled for the most part to simplify the installation process on site. Independently adjustable side guides, steplessly adjustable stands, integrated crossbars for electrical conduit and universally usable spaces for attachment parts make installation even easier.

 

The modules will be available for short-term delivery in three standard widths (420, 620 and 840 millimetres). Other nominal widths will be available as variations to ensure that the system can be easily adjusted to meet user-specific demands. Interroll also offers an extremely user-friendly planning tool to simplify project planning. The new planning software "Interroll Layouter" gives equipment manufacturers and system integrators the opportunity to virtually assemble and calculate a conveyor system that meets the respective demands in advance.

 

Because it is based on open standards, the new Interroll platform is also a future-proof investment. As Michael Kuhn, Managing Director of Interroll Automation GmbH in Sinsheim, explains: "As a neutral provider of conveyor modules for system integrators and equipment manufacturers, we have designed the new platform to support open standards with respect to both mechanical and electronic aspects. Future-oriented and preinstalled field bus systems guarantee interfaces to larger, higher level systems with respect to both the electronic hardware and the software. This not only offers flexibility, but also makes this a viable solution for the future."

 

The modular construction kit from Interroll includes all that is needed to build conveyor lines. The components include not only the straight sections and curves with and without drives; the portfolio also encompasses merge components for loading and unloading goods, and alignment and belt conveyors for overcoming steep inclines, for example. Depending on the application requirements, the conveyor modules can be equipped with various drive systems and be combined with one another. Zero pressure accumulation conveyors can be realised by using proven and extremely energy efficient 24 volt RollerDrives that operate without any pneumatic actuators. A 400 volt drive solution that has been optimised to handle high conveying speeds and extremely heavy goods (up to 50 kg) is also available for use in high-performance applications.

 

Interroll's objective behind developing the new platform was to keep costs as low as possible for operators. For this reason, special emphasis was placed on being able to perform all of the most important maintenance work very quickly from the "top." This minimises downtime and ensures that the system is readily available.

 

The new High Performance Divert (HPD) with throughput rates of up to 3,600 units per hour in on-the-fly mode is another highlight. The HPD is used to transfer unit loads that preferably have a smooth bottom surface. This can be done to the right or left at different angles. The HPD is designed to be a cassette system, whereby several of the cassettes that are each 120 mm in length can be combined to meet the respective requirements. HPDs are available with two different drive versions. The "RM 8711" uses 24 volt motors as travel and swivel drives. With the "RM 8712" on the other hand, a flat belt conveyor uses the travel drive, while a 24 volt motor powers the swivel drive.

 

The modules that make up the new platform are compatible with previous Interroll modules; therefore customers can easily extend or change their existing systems by simply integrating new modules. This also guarantees full flexibility for existing customers.

 

The new system was subjected to the hardest possible endurance and performance tests in 10,000 hours to ensure the usual Interroll quality. Customers can therefore feel confident from the very beginning that their system will provide them with excellent long-term performance.