Eldon supplies electrical installation for advanced Van Aarsen bulk robot

15-05-2020

In early 2017 animal feed and premix technology specialist Van Aarsen chose Eldon to supply the electrical installation for a state-of-the-art bulk robot for filling silos. Van Aarsen has now delivered the machine - which has some unexpected features - to the end-customer, a mill/premix plant in Netherlands.

Founded in 1949 in the Netherlands, Van Aarsen supplies machines and complete solutions for the sustainable production of compound animal feed and premixes. 

Revolutionary robot, designed in-house

The new bulk robot was designed by Van Aarsen’s in-house engineering team. The control unit is from Spie van de Meerakker, while the mild steel electrical enclosure and the dedicated accessories were supplied by Eldon. 

In operation at the mill, the robot is suspended above a group of silos, and programmed to fill each silo with the exact weight of product specified. Subsequently, the silos load the trucks that will deliver the animal feed out to the customers. 

Unique extra features 

In installations of this type, the robot can normally only travel forwards and backwards. However, this advanced bulk robot also moves laterally, an unusual feature designed to speed up the silo filling process. The robot is also groundbreaking in terms of size, measuring 3.5 x 3.5 meters with a height of 4 meters. It incorporates an x-frame and a y-frame with a combined weight of 20 tonnes and has a capacity of 5 000 tonnes of feed per load.

The right enclosure solution 

Eldon Account Manager, Rick van Oosterom, visited both Van Aarsen and Spie van de Meerakker to demonstrate Eldon’s recently upgraded MCS range of mild steel combinable enclosures and accessories. 

Based on these visits and the fact that Eldon could supply a customized enclosure to match the specified dimensions, Van Aarsen chose Eldon for the project. “Our range of mild steel combinable enclosures comes now in even thicker material, a strong locking system, as well as new side panels that enhance rigidity, reduce assembly time and permit one-man installation. For the electrical installation of the new bulk robot we supplied an MCS mild steel enclosure with special dimensions, equipped with our new CCI06 click-in system. This shortens the assembly time bringing a cost reduction to our customer.” says Rick van Oosterom.

Confidence in Eldon confirmed

John Wolf, Van Aarsen engineer said: “During the development of the new bulk robot system, my project engineer informed me that he was unable to find the correct dimensions for the electrical enclosure at our usual supplier. Having looked at the level of quality that Eldon can offer, this time we decided to choose Eldon, and we were not disappointed.”