Rotapro Grape Bins
The introduction of a superior wine harvest bin to the Australian market three years ago has made Rotapro the pick of grape storage solution providers for the nation’s wine industry.
With 30 years’ experience, the SA-based plastic rotational moulding manufacturer makes a vast range of customised moulded plastic items but took particular note of a weakness in other commercially-available wine harvest bins with inconsistent wall thickness.
Rotapro set about developing an improved design, with three sizes of seamless bins without ribs. The efficiency of this one-piece unit is enhanced by the Australian-made, UV-stabilised, food-grade material and suits harsh Australian conditions. This not only enables easier cleaning, but the even wall thickness produces lower levels of residual stresses compared to other forms of plastic manufacturing and ensures greater durability.
Rotapro’s research and development team has ensured the strength of these improved features by also designing more efficient steel frames to house the wine harvest bins. With larger pockets that enable smaller two-tonne forklifts to handle the bins with greater ease, and a strong channel made from 4mm plate steel to ensure greater durability, the improved frames also have cleverly designed lugs for easier and safer tie-downs on transportation vehicles.
These innovative wine harvest bins have made an immediate impression, with sales doubling each year, primarily through word-of-mouth recommendations from impressed customers.
“We actually get people calling us while standing next to the bins after noticing our company name and phone number stamped into the outer surface,” says Rotapro director Kate Elliott.
Having proved its capability as a superior wine harvest bin manufacturer, Rotapro is now keen to work with more wineries and develop other custom-designed moulded plastic items — specific types and sizes of tubs, hose lifters and buckets.
“We have more applications than most people would think,” says Rotapro managing director Bruce Elliott. “The rotational moulding manufacturing process enables items that are seamless, stress-free, hollow, one-piece parts, so there’s countless ways this superior manufacturing method can be used.”
