New flexible solution to pot-filling and packing

Citation

(2008), "New flexible solution to pot-filling and packing", Industrial Robot, Vol. 35 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2008.04935aaf.008

New flexible solution to pot-filling and packing

New flexible solution to pot-filling and packing

A high-speed robotic cell for picking and packing pots, such as yogurt or dessert, into trays has been developed by RTS Flexible Systems (Figure 9). It is thought to be the first time that a “ready-made” pot-handling solution has been made available to the food industry.

Figure 9 RTS system fills and packs yogurt pots

The innovative and compact RTS solution can be adapted to deal reliably with any shape of pot and can be integrated easily into the layout and operational requirements of most pot- filling operations. Offering a return on investment in less than two years, the solution also promises additional savings through production efficiency and flexibility.

RTS has been working for 18 months to develop a solution to allow one picking cell to deal reliably with different products with almost continuous operation. Development work also focused on the problem of pot stability. The RTS solution can pick even inherently unstable pots reliably – and place them in pre-formed plastic or card trays at rates of up to 160 pots a minute, 24h a day.

The RTS robotic cell is available in two variants, enabling pots to be picked at high speed directly from the pot- filling machine, or to collate and pack pots downstream. Easy integration is also possible to accommodate an acetate denester, carton erector, tray labeller, metal detector or checkweigher.

“Our gripper technology now offers the dairy products and desserts manufacturer much greater flexibility in meeting demand. We have developed new gripper solutions, which can accommodate a wide range of pot shapes with only a few rapid tool changes,” comments Etienne Croquette, UK Sales Manager, Dairy and Confectionery Industries for RTS Flexible Systems.

“Typically, a production line has had to run on one pot shape for one order, then to switch to another. This can cost a lot in downtime. The alternative is to have dedicated lines, but this is only viable where demand for each type is continuous.”

“The cell basically replaces two people”. points out Etienne, “It can show a return on investment in 21-24 months, depending on shifts and line volume. Our gripper developments mean that you no longer have to have the production volume for a dedicated machine on one line. It can be used on shorter runs of many different products, with minimal extra costs for change over.”