Puerto Rico-based Cristalia Premium Water thrives on the booming Caribbean tourist trade and the region’s need for clean, safe water. A popular namesake brand and successful private-label bottling division have helped boost the company’s revenue, which is up 400 percent since 1999. High labor costs and inefficiencies in packaging operations were making it increasingly difficult to meet demand while maintaining profits. The company commissioned the director of manufacturing operations, Tom Terrell, to evaluate automated palletizing solutions to help manage the rapid growth.

Cristalia’s cramped warehouse did not have the space for the accumulation conveyor required for a standard high-speed palletizer. The company turned to automated material handling solutions provider Honeywell Intelligrated and its Alvey GS100 series case palletizer for an affordable way to automate its line within the space constraints of the warehouse. The compact footprint of the Alvey GS100 series eliminates the need for a long infeed conveyor and allows fork truck access to all points of the facility, including incoming materials, warehousing, production discharge and outgoing product — without intruding on personnel.

Honeywell Intelligrated’s Alvey GS140 system has enabled Cristalia to reduce labor costs and heavy lifting, while producing an extra 1,000 cases every shift, for a capital investment of less than $100,000. The Alvey GS140 palletizer also fits completely inside a standard 40-foot shipping container, which saved the company approximately $14,000 on overseas shipping costs alone.

Discover how Cristalia is set to become a $100 million bottled water marketer to the Caribbean and the U.S. over the next decade with the help of Honeywell Intelligrated’s automated solutions.