The biggest flood in over 40 years
During extensive flooding in January in Brisbane, Australia, Dulux's Rocklea plant, which includes a production facility, distribution centre and office building, was filled with up to two and a half metres of water. The flooding and several centimetres of residual silt and mud resulted in immediate temporary shutdown and significant damage to the plant. With Rocklea being Dulux's principal decorative coatings manufacturing facility in Australia, they required timely action from Haden & Custance and ABB to get them back into full production as quickly as possible.
The Rocklea plant under water and silt damage to the facility's production line
Robots to the rescue
ABB's robots were no stranger to the site, with the installation of six ABB palletizing robots, three 4 axis and three 6 axis, by Haden & Custance almost 10 years ago, along with conveyor and stretch-wrapping lines.
Haden & Custance was quick to respond, mobilizing a large team of 24 made up of electricians, mechanical tradesmen and automation engineers to Brisbane to assist Dulux on site immediately following the flooding. After initial assessment it was deemed all six robots could not be repaired and needed to be replaced. Working in partnership with ABB's robotics team, a system solution was designed. Understanding the urgency for Dulux to start production again, ABB liaised with its robotics manufacturing arm in China to procure six new IRB industrial 6640 6-axis robots. The robots, weighing 30 tonnes collectively, were airfreighted in an unprecedented six week delivery - this is less than half the standard delivery time, which in early 2011 was peaking due to an increased industry demand for ABB robots worldwide.
Production back on track
After weeks of installation and testing, and 24 weeks after the flooding, Dulux's plant has returned to full production.
Thanks to its state of the art design, ABB's IRB 66400 is the robot of choice for applications needing high production capacity and high payload
In terms of assisting production, five of the robots and accompanying conveying equipment palletise full paint pails, with the other robot de-palletising empty paint pails ready for filling. There are three different head types attached to the IRB 6640 robots - four have mechanical fork type for the palletising of metal pails, one has a Vacuum type for palletising of plastic pails and one magnetic type for de-palletising the metal pails.
In addition, the system includes new robot technology, with the benefit of more up-to-date powerful programming capabilities.
Martin Kirk, General Manager - Sales & Marketing for Haden & Custance, comments they were pleased to offer Dulux such a tight turnaround time to get production back up and running. "When you compare that the initial project in 2000 took two years to install a full production facility for Dulux, this was not an easy task."
"To react to the customer urgency, our team worked very long hours, but despite this never lost their focus and completed the job in a professional manner."
Iwan Lane, Engineering Manager at Dulux, says using the original installer had been a huge advantage in terms of their responsiveness.
"The experience of Haden & Custance has been fantastic and a testament to the Kiwi attitude. The professionalism and capability of all involved was outstanding."
About Haden & Custance
Haden & Custance, based in Havelock North, specialises in the design, manufacture and automation of materials handling equipment for a wide range of industries including food, dairy, meat, building, paint, paper board and beverage. About Dulux
Dulux Australia and Dulux New Zealand are owned by Australian Stock Exchange listed DuluxGroup Limited. Dulux has been manufacturing in Australia since 1918 and in New Zealand since 1935. Dulux is Australia's largest paints manufacturer.
