Seneca Niagara Casino & Resort is a large full-amenity resort located in Niagara Falls, New York. The property features 604 rooms and suites with ten restaurants, seven shops, more than 2,500 slots, and over 80 table games. 

Seneca Casinos contacted Pacline for a new Automated Uniform Distribution System (AUDS) to handle their staffs’ uniform storage and retrieval. Seneca already had a uniform conveyor system in place, but it was old, breaking down, and the operating system was out-of-date. Therefore, a complete replacement was the best solution. 

The Challenge

The old uniform system was failing, and the operating software was running on Windows 95. Whenever staff wanted to take out their uniforms, a locking mechanism would often fail and would have to be manually repaired. 

Seneca needed to update the computer’s operating software, but the original system’s manufacturer would not replace just the computer system or update the software. Seneca was told they had to replace the entire conveyor system. At that point, they started to research alternate equipment and contacted Pacline for a solution. 

There is a kiosk with access door at the front of each room for each conveyor that allows the employees retrieve their own locker bag. The system operates on a barcode scanning system. The employee scans their ID card at the kiosk and the Pacline control system moves the employee’s locker back to the access door.  When the locker bag is in position, the access door unlocks and allows the employee to open to add or remove contents from their locker bag. The Pacline control system has a manual method for retrieval if the employee ID does not read properly.  

The PAC-LINE™ overhead conveyor is an enclosed track that increases the conveyor’s cleanliness and safety, one of Seneca’s leading causes of concern. The Pacline conveyor chain and other moving parts are enclosed or otherwise protected from accidental contact by employees. The new control system operates using a Microsoft SQL database and Windows 10 operating software.

A supermarket in Colombia saw another store using a conveyor system to handle grocery order picking and they wanted to emulate a similar micro-fulfillment solution in their own store. Pacline worked together with an integrator to create a custom overhead conveyor system that would meet their needs. Our engineers chose the PAC-LINE™ round track conveyor for this application because of its flexibility, compact size, and quiet motor.

The Grocery Store Bag Handling Solution

Pacline worked closely with a systems integrator to design this in-store grocery micro-fulfillment solution. The system works when a customer places their order online and then it is assigned to one of the supermarket’s employees to pick in-store. After the employee has been assigned a customer’s grocery list, they will go to one of the locations on the conveyor where it dips down to remove an empty shopping bag and proceed to fill it with the customer’s order. Once the employee is finished gathering all the items in the online order, they hang the grocery bag back onto the overhead conveyor system at a specific location and press a start button. The overhead conveyor then transports the bag to a designated area that utilizes the store’s backroom storage space, so that another employee can prepare the order for the customer to pick–up.  

Supermarket Bag Conveyor Features

• The conveyor system has a few areas throughout the store in which it dips down so that employees can add/remove the bags.  
• There are stations where they can stop or start the overhead conveyor as needed.  
• Adjustable conveyor speed that ranges from 8-38 feet per minute 
• This system can hold up to 180 bags at one time  
• Ceiling supported system without floor supports maximized the floor space 

The Challenges

One of the key challenges of this solution was to make sure that the conveyor system adhered to safety and cleanliness standards. In order to achieve this, netting was added below the track to prevent any damage that could be caused if anything fell from the bags as they traveled along the conveyor path.  

Netting underneath conveyor to catch falling items

The Result

Pacline was able to work closely with an integrator to create an efficient custom in-store micro–fulfillment solution for a large grocer that allowed them to optimize their buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS) operations. Learn more about micro-fulfillment solutions here: https://www.pacline.com/solutions/microfulfillment/  

The Challenge

An architectural millwork company realized a need to improve workflow through their paint and finishing area and contacted Pacline for assistance.  Their process at that time included the use of carts to manually move wooden parts through the stages of finishing, including sanding, spraying, curing and finish coating.  The carts were being moved many times causing workflow obstructions and wasted labor. 

The Solution

A Pacline engineer worked with the customer to confirm the system requirements as well as to share the conceptual layouts. The layout of the conveyor path was coordinated with the customer’s spray booth, oven and other processing areas. The final layout design was approved by the customer and met the project objectives. 

The wooden parts are carried on carts that are attached to an in-floor towline conveyor. The carts are pulled through a sanding area, then through a paint booth. After painting, the carts move through a serpentine area for flash off, prior to moving through a curing oven.  To reduce the length of the curing oven, the conveyor doubles back through the oven then moves the carts to an unloading area.

The Result

The installed conveyor system helped control the overall process flow while reducing labor, improving throughput, and reducing handling damage. The Pacline customer was able to install the conveyor using a local qualified contractor.  

Pacline offers flexibility in the scope of supply, providing only equipment, as in this case, or complete turn-key conveyor solutions.

Commercial Tent Rentals & Sales Limited is the largest established tent rental company in Eastern Canada. As Atlantic Canada’s leading supplier of tents, their inventory ranges from sizes suited to a backyard barbecue for family and friends to a sit-down dinner for thousands.

They contacted Pacline after they saw a similar system Pacline had installed at another facility and wanted to duplicate it at their own. Essentially, they wanted to automate their tent drying process as their current process was to manually dry the tents and place them on clothing lines that hung throughout the facility.

The Challenge

The system needed to be ceiling hung with no floor supports. However, the facility had a sloped roof which meant the conveyor system needed to be hung from the highest point down to operator height (lowest point on system). Pacline was able to accommodate the long 27’ foot drop by breaking the supports into 2 different sections thus in the end not needing any floor support.

Ceiling supports to clear up floor space

The Solution

Pacline installed a 700-foot PAC-LINE™ enclosed track conveyor system to automate their tent drying process. The new process allows tents to be cleaned in an industrial washer then placed onto the conveyor system from the load point by an operator.

Once the tent is placed onto the system it is moved up into the ceiling area to air dry, which takes approximately one day. When the tents are fully air dried, they are brought back down using  to the unload area which is located by the dock door. Operators can now utilize the floor space underneath the conveyor, which was obstructed by clothing lines before.

The Results

Tents of a variety of sizes being air dried

Pacline was able to increase Commercial Tent Rentals & Sales Limited’s productivity and efficiency through automating their manual tent drying process and thus reducing operator walking time. As well the ceiling hung tent drying conveyor system allowed them to free up valuable floor space that was taken up by their previous manual process.

Spector & Co. began in 1964 selling custom branded writing instruments. Today, the company is a leading supplier of promotional products in North America with a focus on travel accessories and writing materials. Their 65,000 square foot facility in St. Laurent, Quebec offers thousands of different products with 30 decorating options from digital printing to laser engraving.

PACLINE was contacted by Spector & Co. to help manage and improve their storage and retrieval process of bulky items such as backpacks and duffel bags. Their current system utilized manual push carts on the floor to store and transport products through the labeling and shipping process. This cart system was causing the product flow and inventory management to be disorganized and inefficient.

After reviewing some of the Retail Conveyor Applications on the PACLINE website, Spector & Co. recognized the opportunity they had if they could utilize the empty overhead space in their plant. To get a better understanding of how the custom overhead conveyor would work for their products, Spector staff visited the PACLINE office for a live demonstration of the system.

PACLINE Live Demonstration Facility

Challenges

• Spector & Co. needed to improve their storage and retrieval system for handling bulky items such as backpacks and duffel bags.
• Hundreds of backpacks and duffel bags needed to be quickly accessible for custom orders, where the items would be decorated and packaged for shipping.
• The use of manual push carts was taking up a great amount of valuable floor space in the facility and caused the process to be very disorganized.

Solutions

When Spector & Co. came to PACLINE they had envisioned a three-loop overhead conveyor system to manage their storage and retrieval process. However, PACLINE determined that a system incorporating five custom conveyor loops would be the best solution. This would allow Spector & Co. to maximize overhead storage, improve organization, and increase product flow efficiency. Having a storage and retrieval system with five custom overhead conveyors totalling 1400’ would allow Spector & Co. to store an inventory of 1400 bags at once!

32 Degrees is an activewear clothing company that focuses on providing functionality and style for the everyday wardrobe. 32 Degrees’ goal is to revolutionize the everyday basics by utilizing the latest warming and cooling technologies to deliver all day comfort throughout all seasons at a valued price.

PACLINE Overhead Conveyors was contacted by 32 Degrees to help with a creative storefront marketing display in Manhattan, New York in the Macy’s department store near Times Square. The customer saw our Garment Handling Systems used in retail displays and realized that we could offer the exact solution they had envisioned. The month-long window display would feature their 32 Degrees “Heat” jacket that is pack-able into a small, convenient bag. Utilizing the PAC-LINE™ Overhead Conveyor allowed 32 Degrees to demonstrate the pack-able capability of their jacket with an interesting and eye-catching effect.

32 Degrees’ envisioned marketing display

The Challenges

PACLINE was faced with some very unique challenges when engineering and installing this conveyor:

• Storefront room dimensions were only 3’ x 18’
• Storefront display conveyor could not be bolted to ground or be hung from ceiling
• The VFD control system could not be displayed and could not take up a lot of room
• Installation had to be completed overnight and no parking was available for truck delivery

The Solution

The limited storefront space was PACLINE’s greatest obstacle throughout the design and install process. In order to fit the conveyor loop into the 3’ wide room, 9” radius curves had to be used, making the total storefront display conveyor only 18” wide! Our installers Mike and Spencer had to work overnight to install all equipment. They had to work and maneuver inside the tight window space along with all of their tooling and equipment making this the most congested job-site ever!

The blueprints of the storefront area display the limited room size and narrow width of conveyor.

The PAC-LINE™ Monorail Enclosed Track Conveyor is often secured using a connection to the ceiling structure, or bolted to the floor using floor stands with baseplates. Unfortunately, the storefront room at Macy’s made these options unavailable, so project engineer, Yuvraj, was forced with the task of creating a different method of stabilizing the storefront display conveyor within a 3-week timeline. Yuvraj designed floor stands that were secured to one another, each with wide “X” style base plates in order to ensure stability and support. This resulted in a conveyor system that was not secured to any exterior supports, but was able to stand stable and still withstand any vibrations of the running conveyor.

The unique floor stands enabled the storefront display conveyor to be stable and supported without bolted connection.

Due to the overnight installation time limitation, the VFD could not be set up and wired during this process. This forced PACLINE to pre-wire and configure the VFD prior to shipping in order to reduce installation time and prevent potential installation issues from occurring.  The pre-wired VFD was given a simple plug-in power unit so that the system could be easily managed and installed on-site. This made the installation very efficient, while keeping the VFD compact and hidden from outside viewers. The overnight installation was accomplished thanks to PACLINE’s experienced installers, who were able to install the system and deliver the requirements in a short time span in busy Manhattan, New York.

To achieve the desired effect in the display, the PAC-LINE™ overhead conveyor was set up as a two-tiered system with loose jackets on the bottom hanger and packed jackets on the top. Portions of the top and bottom were strategically blocked from view with window graphics so that the hanging jackets appeared to be transforming before your eyes into packed jackets. The loose jackets were set up to turn 45 degrees in order to display the full jacket to the viewer and to ensure the jackets were conveyed smoothly without rubbing or becoming caught on any outer obstacles in the small storefront.

The project engineer was able to create a hanger solution in order to achieve 32 Degree’s needs.

The Result

The final project displayed a moving storyline of jackets that appeared to become “packed” jackets as they were conveyed through a “machine” in the center of the window. This creative window display was highly effective in catching the attention of passers-by on a busy Manhattan street AND demonstrating the unique features of the packable 32 Degrees “Heat” Jacket.

For more information about our systems contact a PACLINE engineer at 1-800-955-8860.