ALLIOS Business case

At the Villeneuve Loubet site, hooding operations were carried out manually by an operator, using three pre-cut formats and a gas gun to shrink the film. This job, which was both tedious and generated turnover, was automated in 2015 using Thimon's COMBI-PAL shrink hooding machine, bringing immediate gains in efficiency and quality.

In the light of this success, ALLIOS decided a few years later to also automate the Marignane logistics site in order to:

• Reduce energy and consumables costs,
• Optimise the stability of transported loads,
• Eliminate the constraints associated with manual operations.

The challenges:

• Fragile pallets: The forks of the forklift trucks were damaging the plastic film in the handling tunnels, causing pallets to fall off or frequently not conform during transport.
• High speeds: The Marignane site handles 56,000 pallets a year. The installation of new equipment had to be carried out without interrupting production, i.e. with complete transparency for Allios' customers.
• Sustainability objective: To reduce plastic consumption and environmental impact while ensuring optimum load retention.

To meet the challenges identified, Thimon deployed a tailor-made solution. This approach was based on a detailed understanding of the specific needs of ALLIOS and validated by tests in real conditions, guaranteeing the reliability and efficiency of the proposed equipment.

In order to validate the hypotheses as to the best solution to adopt, Thimon carried out a series of exhaustive tests to validate every technical and operational aspect.
These stages, carried out in partnership with the ALLIOS teams, enabled the BandoFix solution to be validated. It met not only the technical requirements, but also the operational, logistical and environmental objectives.

BandoFix technology, patented by Thimon, offers ALLIOS a complete and effective solution.

• An automatic BandoFix system with a rotating arm:
  This machine places a taut strand of film at the bottom of each pallet, leaving the forks of forklift trucks free to pass through. This eliminates the risk of the packaging deteriorating as the loads are picked up and ensures that the loads are held securely on the pallet, considerably reducing the risk of them falling during transport.
• A BandoFix combined shrink hooding system:
  This machine hoods, shrinks and secures the hood to the strand at the bottom of the pallet. This process guarantees the integrity and uniformity of loads, even for non-standard formats or products.
  This process considerably reduces the consumption of plastic and consumables compared with conventional shrink hooding.
• An intuitive user interface - Thimon OS Vision.

What makes this solution unique?

The combination of these technologies makes BandoFix an innovative and sustainable packaging solution:

• Respect for products : Unlike traditional hooding methods that fix the covers under the pallet, the strand of film provides a hold without obstructing the handling tunnels. This limits damage and extends the life of the packaging.
• Cost optimisation: The process reduces plastic and gas consumption while improving load security. As a result, ALLIOS has been able to rationalise its purchases and standardise its consumables across its various sites.
• Ecological approach: By reducing the quantity of plastic used per pallet and lowering the thickness of the film, this solution is part of a ‘fair packaging’ approach that meets ALLIOS's environmental objectives and is dear to THIMON's heart.