Automated carton sortation, Ravenhall, VIC.

High-efficiency automation for a leading international tea supplier.

Pac Technologies was engaged to deliver the complete automation, control, and HMI system for a new carton sortation line installed at a major tea distribution facility in Ravenhall, Victoria. The project formed part of a broader logistics upgrade aimed at increasing throughput, improving traceability, and reducing manual handling within the packaging and dispatch areas.

Industry

Logistics — FMCG distribution

Service

Programming & commissioning

Location

Ravenhall, VIC

Year

2024

Control

Omron NX102

Lanes

13 (incl. reject & accumulation)

A high-mix distribution centre that needed to keep moving.

The customer's existing packaging-and-dispatch flow leaned heavily on manual carton routing. As order mix grew, that handling cost rose with it — and so did the risk of misroutes that the WMS couldn't see. The job was to automate the sortation layer cleanly: reliable divert logic, visibility into every carton's journey, and integration tight enough that the WMS would always know where a parcel was.

One controller, thirteen lanes, hundreds of devices.

The automated sortation line is designed to move packed cartons from the induction area to their assigned sort lane with precision and zero-pressure accumulation. Each carton is identified via barcode, matched against the site database, and routed to its designated lane through a series of powered transfer modules. Where the barcode system detects a carton without valid data, it is automatically sent to the reject zone for operator review.

The system carries 13 conveyor lanes — including dedicated reject and accumulation zones — with multiple F-RAT (right-angle transfer) diverters automatically directing cartons to the correct lane. Integrated barcode scanning gives real-time identification and tracking, zero-pressure accumulation keeps handling smooth and damage-free, and blocking logic prevents congestion at full lanes.

At the core of the control system is an Omron NX102 PLC, communicating via EtherCAT and Ethernet/IP to manage hundreds of motors, sensors, and control cards. The custom HMI gives operators live lane monitoring and scan history, individual motor and sensor diagnostics, maintenance and device-control screens for detailed fault analysis, and real-time counters plus database connectivity for production reporting. Safety is prioritised through dual emergency circuits, safety relays, and multiple local e-stops — ensuring full compliance with Australian Standards.

PLC

Omron NX102

Networks

EtherCAT · Ethernet/IP

Identification

Integrated barcode scanning

Diverters

Multiple F-RAT right-angle transfers

Accumulation

Zero-pressure throughout

Integration

WMS · SQL reporting

Data-driven, hands-off sortation.

The installation runs hands-off through packaging and dispatch, with every carton tracked end-to-end.

• Increased throughput through continuous, zero-pressure flow.
• Improved accuracy via integrated barcode validation.
• Reduced downtime with real-time fault visibility and remote diagnostics.
• Enhanced safety with system-wide emergency control and interlocking logic.
• Scalable architecture ready for future expansion and software integration.