From food to logistics: the versatile solutions of the LM Group
The LM Group – with the Magnoni and Marpatech brands – is an undisputed leader in offering handling and packaging solutions for the food & beverage sector. The wide range of machines and systems available allows the customer to set up entire lines or integrate existing ones with flexible applications and is able to meet all kinds of demands from a wide range of sectors and types of products transported.
Best-sellers include the Sortech, the product in the Marpatech range, and curved conveyor belts. Sortech is a multi-directional distribution system that makes it possible sort packages of various dimensions, shapes and weights, towards a number of appropriate exits, with remarkable positioning and product orientation precision. This is all done at high speeds, up to 1.6 m/s.
Curved conveyor belts are among LM’s leading products, with two types dedicated to its reference markets: plastic netted curves for beverages, ideal for heavy loads and very high speeds, and the roller curves with cylindrical edges for food, particularly for the confectionary and baked products segment, in which the products are very small and delicate and therefore difficult to transport.
The performance of these two types of solution, designed for high productivity lines, have recently broken out of the traditional food & beverage sector, moving into logistics. The recent “explosion” of e-commerce has affected every corner of the world and every category of goods.
Starting, therefore, from a position of leadership and exploiting its experience in handling difficult products for their shape and weight, with high levels of efficiency and reduced dimensions, LM has, in the last few years, oriented development towards the automation of package handling in distribution and shipping centres. Inside the mega pavilions, the performance levels and application of LM Group’s particularly versatile technologies perfectly meet the demands of logistics operators.
The packages vary from small sizes and weight to very significant ones, and curved conveyor belts are therefore perfect for large logistics and shipping companies. LM has developed a line of curved conveyor belts that combines robustness and speed (up to 3m/s) and small edge rollers for a correct transfer of the smallest and lightest products.
Versatility, on the other hand, from the point of view of the number of exits and the ability to manage also products of a more irregular shape, make Sortech the sorting system most suitable for large distribution centres.
It should be remembered that these solutions are characterised for their acknowledged reliability and easy maintenance, qualities for which LM is recognized throughout the world.
Two commercial successes for LM
- The group has supplied a row management and flowpack feeding system to a leading Turkish company in the production of snacks and sweets, composed of a series of “smart” conveyor belts. This sale is an exception from LM’s practice of selling to packaging manufacturers: in this case, the relationship was established directly with the final customer, already familiar with LM’s products thanks to the previous acquisition of an accumulator.
Specifically, the company’s requirement was to create a conveyor belt system that managed products (wafers and bars) from processing to two pre-existing packaging lines. After a careful equipment design and adaptation phase, with LM technicians transferring to Turkey to take necessary measures and understand where the belts were to be positioned, the system was installed and tested. Thanks to this totally personalised solution, the customer has been able to increase production without affecting the quality of the product, maintaining the characteristics of the wafer. - The second case regards the sale of two elevators-lowerators for heavy loads and pallets to an important Liguria-based company operating in the petroleum processing sector. LM demonstrated once more its ability to adapt its solutions to different requirements, offering a customized device for the customer’s lifting line. The significant dimensions and the fact that the systems were installed in an external context represented a further challenge.
