'Automation Trends' covers robotics and how the packaging industry can speed products to market through changeover acceleration, efficiency improvement and cost reduction.
Packaging Intelligence Brief
AUTOMATION TRENDS
Robotics: speeding products to market through changeover acceleration, efficiency impro-vement and cost reductionPackaging Intelligence Brief
AUTOMATION TRENDS
About the Packaging Intelligence Brief Series Robotics: speeding products to market through changeover acceleration, efficiency improvement and cost reduction
Packaging plays a critical role in our PMMI is proud to introduce the Packaging With demand growing for unique ways to percent gain in the first quarter of 2005 over 2global economy and touches the lives Intelligence Brief series which focuses on differentiate products and engage consumers the same period in 2004 . Able to handle of everyone. For more than 70 years, trends that are shaping the future of the to generate sales, new product introductions everything from caps to pouches to torque the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers industry. Over the next year, PMMI will have skyrocketed, and pack patterns and sizes converters, robotic palletizing is quickly grow-Institute (PMMI) has been the leading regularly release Packaging Intelligence continually evolve to meet retailer and con- ing in popularity. global resource for packaging manu- Briefs to address various topics that are sumer requirements. Delivering these varia-facturers to learn about industry trends, significantly impacting packaging and tions in a timely manner requires flexibility This popularity extends beyond multinational obtain training and get involved in outlining how suppliers and manufacturers and quick changeover that can often only be companies to smaller packagers. In fact, ro-networking events. are responding to market needs. accomplished with automated equipment. bots are seeing increased use among com-panies with 100-200 employees. With their As a result, packagers are deploying more smaller footprint and superior precision over robotic systems, performing more tasks via conventional palletizing technology, robots software and demanding more tightly inte- offer major advantages for smaller packagers grated machines, while keeping a firm rein with lower-speed lines. on costs. According to recent statistics from the Robotic Industry Association (RIA), sales To help Guida's Milk & Ice Cream (New Britain, of packaging and palletizing robots rose by CT) automate palletizing on two lines, Dyco, approximately 113 percent between 2000 and Inc. (Bloomsburg, PA) developed a system 2005, with a 15 percent increase in sales be- featuring a KUKA KR 180 PA robot that runs 1tween 2004 and 2005 alone . 12 to 16 hours per day, six days per week. On one side, it picks up corrugated cases con-Equipment builders have responded by deliv- taining eight half-gallon or four gallon jugs ering more turnkey systems, creating more and stacks them on a pallet. Gallon cases are modular designs, replacing pneumatics with picked up four at a time and placed in a row electromechanical devices and automating on the pallet. Each layer has three rows, and inspection tasks to accelerate changeover, pallets are stacked four high for a total of 48 increase speed, boost efficiency, simplify in- cases. The half-gallon cases also are stacked tegration, lower costs and ensure consistent four high, but are handled five at time and product quality. arranged in four rows per layer for a total of 60 cases per pallet. Robotic Palletizing Sector Growth On the other side of the work cell, 12-count The inherent flexibility of robots greatly fa- trays of 10- or 16-ounce bottles arrive on a cilitates changeover from one size or type second line and are picked up four at a time of product to another. As a result, material and arranged in layers of 20 cases. The 10-handling is one of the fastest growing seg- ounce bottles are stacked nine layers high; the ments of the robotics market, showing a 67 16-ounce bottles go six high. Since the trays of
1 Steve Sterling, "What's not to like about robots?," Packaging World August 2006: 46 2 G eorge Weimer, "Robots Moving into Packaging Plants," Paperboard Packaging 1 August 2005: www.packaging-online/paperboardpackaging/content/printContentPopup.jsp?id=176804 Packaging Intelligence Brief Packaging Intelligence Brief
AUTOMATION TRENDS AUTOMATION TRENDS
the smaller containers arrive more frequently, Order picking... [download for more]
