Few people likely realise that many, actually most of Vekta’s great ideas and innovations originated with our customers. At the BCMC in Columbus, Ohio Vekta’s MD Ed Serrano was chatting with a long-standing Vekta customer. A crazy idea came to the customer and he shared the concept with a few scribbles on the back of a piece of paper.
‘What if you were to put the PackFeeder above the infeed system?’
‘Hmmmmmmmmmm….’
That was enough to get our minds thinking in the new direction. The Packfeeder is Vekta’s latest innovation and already has the smallest footprint in the market of equivalent systems. In fact it takes up 75% less space of any other system (and is A LOT cheaper). It also features the ability to pick two boards at once, can detect, and flip for crowning in timber, and boards can be stacked for cutting. It is impressive. Watch the video and you can see this for yourself!
But… What if the PackFeeder was positioned above the infeed?
What would that mean for space requirements?
Well, Vekta listened and within days had conceptual models drawn that suggested the idea was indeed possible! An idea that would benefit any plant who has dreamt about having a fully automated in-feed system but space has been the limiting factor. An idea that means that NO additional floor space to speak of is required to implement a substantial PackFeeder!
The concept suggests a 14 bunk PackFeeder could be installed over the top of a standard Razer infeed system. New packs would be loaded from the back of the saw and the PackFeeder would pick the boards, move them out away from the saw and deposit them on the end of the existing side transfers. The side transfers would then bring the boards back into the saw. This means that all of the dead space above the existing infeed system would be utilised for the PackFeeder. And THAT means a 14 bunk PackFeeder installed in this manner would take up virtually no additional floor space!. It’s still early days but so far the idea appears to hold up so watch this space!
In all honesty, Vekta’s Engineering team are kicking themselves for not coming up with the concept themselves. But this actually reconfirms that the process we use for innovation and the research and development of new products is the right one for our customers. Vekta observes and listens to your ideas, your bottlenecks and then aims to create a solution.
This is one reason why the BCMC is so great. You get to meet so many people, see what is happening in the industry and maybe walk away with the next great idea! There is no point in VEKTA telling you what YOU need in your business- and all of Vekta’s products have and will be designed in this way.