This award honours excellence in new or improved products, processes or services using mechanical engineering or arising in the manufacturing sector.

“Lights Out” Packing
Avalon Engineering, Fonterra Co-operative Group and JMP Engineering

The “lights out” packing system is a fully-integrated automated materials processing system. It starts with bulk milk powder and empty bags, and ends with shrink wrapped pallets of full, labelled bags in warehouse storage, ready for dispatch.
Human input is not required anywhere in the process, and the increased reliability and accuracy of the packing system means the lights can be turned off on the operations, hence the project’s name.

The system comprises four main components – a bag packer, robotic palletiser and stretch wrapper, automatic guided vehicle system, and the integration and automation information services system. In isolation, each component is effective – automatically loading, filling, stacking, wrapping, labelling, transporting and storing – but what is particularly impressive is the integration of the various components into a single well-balanced and smoothly operating materials handling and packaging system.

Fonterra has installed the innovative packing system at five sites, covering the production of 2,000 tonnes of milk powder per day, and Fonterra believes there is export potential for the control and materials handling technologies.

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