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MOTOMAN ROBOTICS (UK) LTD |
Press Release
EFFICIENT ROBOTIC PACKING SPEEDS SOFT DRINKS MANUFACTURE
Three robotic packing cells developed by Motoman Robotics (UK) and supplied as turnkey systems to Wrexham-based Calypso Soft Drinks have enabled significant improvements in efficiency. In one case, introduction of an SV-3 robot for placement of cup-let drinks packages into cartons has allowed line speed to be increased by 25 per cent. In another, the cell has succeeded in automating the packing of 56 different product and pack size combinations onto shipping pallets.
Calypso is a leading manufacturer of packaged soft drinks. The Wrexham factory is fully self-contained including its own natural mineral water supply. Its products include Tetra Pak 200ml and 250ml cartons and aseptic cup drinks cartons. The latter are produced as six-packs of 200 ml cup product and individual 85 ml cuplets for catering use.
John Ball, the company engineering manager at Calypso, commented, “Calypso has been very progressive in the adoption of automated technology. Up to the 1990’s this mainly applied to the production side; we were the first company in the UK to adopt the Tetra packing system, and we then adopted form/fill/seal technology during the 1980s. In the early 1990s we acquired a Tetra machine that had an automatic tray packing facility, although palletisation and carton packing were still carried out manually.”
He continued, “At that time the company was spread over two sites but we consolidated our operations at Wrexham in the late 1990s. That has given us much more factory space and provided the opportunity to extend the use of packaging automation. We began with a layer palletising machine which has been highly successful. However, applying that concept to multiple case sizes was not cost- or space-effective so we elected to develop a system based on robots.”
Calypso decided to automate the palletising function on four lines producing Tetra packed drinks. This is quite a complex task as the system has to be capable of coping with trays comprising either 24 or 27 packs with further variation occasioned by the use of 200ml and 250ml packs in addition to differences in the flavour of the actual product. In all there are 56 pack variations that demand three different pallet stacking patterns.
The aims of the robot packing project were well defined from the start. One cell would be required to place the six 200ml packs and cup-lets into cartons as they came off the filling line. Flexibility was needed to pack 200 ml six-packs at a density of four packs per box, or individual cup-lets at a density of five layers of 20 per box. Specified packing time was four seconds per box for the six-packs. An additional requirement for the cup-lets was the insertion of a cardboard separator between each of five layers; around 20 seconds/box is allowed on this product.
A second cell on the same line was required to stack the cartons from the cup line onto pallets, with a maximum case weight of 12 kg for the cup-let boxes.
"With hindsight we were embarking on a highly ambitious project,” Mr Ball recounted. “However we had a lot of incentives to make it work. It made sense to apply automation to areas of production that, while they are essential, do not add value to the product. On cup-let packing especially, packing was very labour intensive with up to six people needed to pack the cartons."
In selecting Motoman Robotics as supplier/project partner, Calypso was drawn to the company's systems experience and the quality and performance of the product. The electric operation of the basic robot was also seen to be an advantage on the basis of the need to combine speed with precise positioning accuracy in both the box-filling and pallet stacking applications. Likewise the six-axis robot format provided comprehensive positioning flexibility that proved essential in the box filling role.
As installed, the latter system comprises a pair of Motoman SV-3 robots for box filling. One of these is equipped with a handling device comprising vacuum suction cups for the pick and place function, while the second is dedicated to inserting a separator card. Subsequent development of the packaging materials has led to the use of separator cards being reviewed and this robot may be redeployed in the future.
The mode of operation is that cups come off the line into a set of guidance rails that present the cups to the robot. It picks two six-packs or 20 cup-lets using a dedicated gripper and places them into the box. If cup-lets are being packed, the second robot places a separator card before the next layer is placed. Changeover time for the robot cell is five to ten minutes, well inside the time needed to change over the filling line.
“The system operates extremely well,” says factory engineering manager Chris Edwards. “Whereas keeping up with production on cup-let packing used to be a problem, the robots have allowed us to increase the speed of the line by 25 per cent. On the cup-lets, presentation of the box is critical because we are dealing with individual product, so the robots are programmed to spiral as they place the product to ensure that the box sides do not hinder clean placement. This sort of versatility is something that we have come to appreciate as the project has progressed.”