Suttons Group has broadened the range of services available to its customers with the successful implementation of a chemical drumming facility at its St. Helens site.
The new facility, developed with an investment of £1.5 million, to provide drumming, warehousing and despatch services for Ineos Chlor Vinyls, will handle around 90,000 tonnes of products using the latest Feige drum filling and handling technology to provide a safe and effective operation.
As with all Suttons and Ineos operations, safety is of paramount importance and the installation uses Feige’s latest drum handling technology to reduce manual handling risks. Safety is further enhanced using dedicated extraction systems and enclosed automatic and semi-automatic drum filling operations.
The installation has an empty drum storage magazine capable of simultaneously handling 6 different drum types and a total capacity of 1584 drums. Two fully automatic Feige drum filling machines are installed, each capable of filling 60 drums an hour, with an additional pallet filler capable of filling different size drums and intermediate bulk containers (IBC’s). Feige’s machinery sourced through Springvale Equipment Ltd.
The Suttons operation currently handles 5 different product streams, which are delivered into the plant by dedicated Suttons road tankers.
The majority of drums are exported to Ineos customers in Asia and the Americas. Filled drums can either be loaded directly into containers or diverted to an automatic palletiser for storage and subsequent despatch.
The operation has been designed to provide a “just in time” service to Ineos Chlor, minimising the need to hold large stocks whilst ensuring the high quality of the finished product.
Commenting, Suttons Group Managing Director Andrew Palmer said “the combination of Suttons investment, Feige’s drumming operation expertise and our excellent relationship with Ineos Chlor has delivered a successful, high quality, safe and effective operation. In addition, we are now looking at developing our drumming activities in other international markets, specifically Asia”.
For further information on Feige, contact Springvale Equipment Ltd – 01420 542505 www.springequip.co.uk
