Material Handling

Move empty bottles from the blow molder to the pallet

Conveyors, robotic automation, and bagging and debagging for empty bottles, and, with DCC Automation, the filled side through to the pallet. Designed, built, and tested under one roof in Central Florida since 1972.

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01 / Empty bottles on a cable conveyor

In summary

Custom Metal Designs' Material Handling division designs and manufactures the equipment that moves empty plastic containers from the blow molder through to packaging. That covers annealing units, conveyors, robotic automation, bagging and debagging, and the aftermarket parts and service that keep your production line running.

CMD designs, fabricates, assembles, and tests this equipment in its own shop in Central Florida, and has done so since 1972. As part of the DCC Automation Group, CMD handles containers on the empty side of the line; DCC handles them once they are filled. Between the two, one group covers the bottle from the mold to the loaded truck.

Design, fabrication, assembly, and testing in-house
Handles the empty side of the bottle lifecycle; DCC covers filled
ISO 9001:2015 certified (NQA); UL-listed panel shop
Robot integration with Yaskawa Motoman and FANUC

What sets us apart

One shop engineers it, builds it, and assembles it

Most bottle-line vendors design a system and farm out the metalwork. CMD does the engineering, the fabrication, and the assembly itself. When a bracket has to change on the floor, the people who made it are down the hall, not a purchase order away.

Where CMD sits on the line

CMD moves bottles from the blow molder onward, while they are still empty and light. Once they are filled, DCC Automation takes over. Together the two companies cover the bottle from the mold to the loaded truck.

01Custom Metal Designs: the empty side
02Handover at the filler
03DCC Automation: the filled side

One line, one handover

What we build for the empty side

Our capabilities cover the line, from take-away at the blow molder to the engineering behind it. Aftermarket support keeps it running.

01
Aftermarket
Parts, retrofits, and support for the CMD equipment already on your floor.
Explore Aftermarket
02
Conveyors
Cable, table-top, and mat-top conveyors, accumulation, elevators, and annealing, from the blow molder to the fillers. Our founding capability.
Explore Conveyors
03
Engineering and Design
Mechanical and electrical engineering for every line we build, from a UL-listed panel shop.
Explore Engineering and Design
04
Packaging Machinery
Bagging and debagging systems for empty bottles, before they reach the filler.
Explore Packaging Machinery
05
Robotics Integration
Palletizing, depalletizing, and case packing built around Yaskawa Motoman and FANUC arms.
Explore Robotics Integration

How a project runs

Every line is designed to your building and your bottle, then proven under power before it ships.

Step 1: Site visit and measurement
A sales engineer visits your plant, measures the floor, and walks the line with your team. The system is designed to your building, not to a catalog footprint.
Step 2: Engineering blueprint
Our engineers turn the 2D layout into a full mechanical and controls design you can review before anything is cut.
Step 3: Quote
You get a fixed scope and price against the blueprint. Nothing appears on the invoice that was not drawn first.
Step 4: Fabrication and assembly
We cut, form, weld, and assemble the system in our own shop, then wire and program the controls.
Step 5: Testing
The line runs under power in our shop before it ships, so problems surface here instead of on your floor.
Step 6: Reassembly on the customer floor
Our crew installs and re-commissions the system on site, then runs it with your bottles before we hand it over.