One of the key challenges was the packing line needed to handle up to six different wholesale-sized occupational hand sanitiser bottlers. Pacepacker commercial and information systems manager Paul Wilkinson says: “Around 70% of case loading applications use vacuum, yet as there’s no significant area on the top of each sanitiser bottle we designed a mechanical solution that grabs hold of the top of each bottle in two rows, in one movement.”

Pacepacker believes this could be the UK’s first installation of an adaptive gripper that picks up and gently places a full layer of heavy bottled products (weighing between 1kg and 4.5 kg each) into boxes using this method. “The end effector is a truly innovative and unique feature,” says Wilkinson.

In order to create this end-effector, Pacepacker used the very latest 3D modelling and 3D printing technology on this project. “In many applications we now use 3D to create specific tooling, fixtures and grippers rather than relying on standardised components,” says Wilkinson. “In this instance, we sculpted and 3D printed a gripper to suit the handle of the bottles being picked up.”

Increased line packing speeds

The gripper was one element of an overall project to help the hand hygiene company automate the case erection, loading and palletising tasks previously performed manually. Wanting to improve the versatility of its production plant and increase line packing speeds, the company brought in Pacepacker to automate two labour intensive manual packing production lines and palletising operation, creating a centralised, fully automated turnkey line.

Comprising 15 individual elements and featuring products from nine different original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), this is one of Pacepacker’s most complex, largest and innovative projects. By solving the factory’s reliance on multiple workers overseeing each packing element, Pacepacker estimates that it will cut annual workforce costs by around £400,000 a year.

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Robots are too often presumed guilty when they are not in any position to demonstrate their innocence. We have seen this with the much-discussed ‘threat’ to jobs, despite evidence that it is in the interest of manufacturers to balance automation with the upskilling of manual workers. Likewise, there’s a widespread assumption that, when lines stop working, the cause is hiding inside the ‘black box’ of automation rather than among the humans who manage it.

Any statement to the effect that automation over the next decade and beyond will have no impact on employment should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. But, in its March 2017 report on robotics, PwC forecast that, although up to 46% of UK manufacturing jobs were ‘at potential high risk of automation by the early 2030s’, in many cases those jobs would evolve rather than disappear altogether.

By 2030, it is also highly likely that the majority of robotic and automated production and packing lines will not only tell managers why a stoppage has occurred, but probably correct any problem themselves.

For now, though, when the robot stops working, the robot will probably get the blame. Sometimes, when there is an element of complexity or variety in the operation, the assumption will be that the robotics is simply not up to the job. Yet, if we are making robots a scapegoat, that probably means we are avoiding other actions which would take us much closer to the root cause of any malfunction. Here are five reasons why the buck should not stop with automated intelligence.

A robot is only as good as its programming

It is essential that robots and other automated sections of the line are programmed to recognise and handle every stock-keeping unit (SKU), including all variants at the primary and secondary packaging stage. This means investing the same amount of time and effort in understanding the full scope of a project as you would do in selecting and specifying equipment in the first place.

In product handling and case loading, problems may occur because an integrator has not fully considered the movement of the robotic arm from pick point to place point, the timings on the line, and so on.

Preparations should include talking to all of those involved, from operator level up to directors, to ensure that all current and future expectations are understood in detail and can be met in full. The appropriate programming must be available and, just as importantly, easily and reliably accessible.

There are other essential elements within the preparation stage. Experienced line operators will be able to predict many of the challenges arising from the nature of the product being handled, different fill levels, poor-quality sealing, spillages and other variables. All of these issues can affect the smooth running of the line, and need to be uncovered and factored into automation planning.

The workforce needs to be on-side

Your workforce can do much more than advise on potential problems. They may initially be wary about the impact of automation, but as an employer, you can turn them into champions of the same technology. You may have reassigned some or all of your workers to other duties in the factory – perhaps being responsible for longer sections of the line, or being trained up to more skilled or technical roles. This happens for the best operational reasons, but can mean that managers are effectively doing away with a critically important layer of visual monitoring and inspection.

All operators, and not just those directly responsible for sections of the line, should remain vigilant for any upstream problems which might interfere with its smooth running. Here, managers can play a key role in encouraging those involved to think through to root causes, rather than being satisfied with short-term troubleshooting.

Where operators are responsible for setting up the line for changeovers, they need to be given clear training and instructions to ensure all necessary manual and electronic changes are made. If cross-settings, such as guides set to the wrong width, are not corrected, this can jam the line, triggering a shutdown and potentially resulting in lengthy downtime while the problem is fixed.

Give consideration too for the ‘human factor’. This is not, strictly speaking, human error. Though thankfully rare, there have been cases of workers disabling robots in order to bring significant numbers of manual operators on to the line, complete packing requirements more quickly and, as a result, leave work earlier.

Instead, experienced operators need to be persuaded that the business still relies on them to support and monitor its automated lines. By doing so, they can hopefully be motivated to perform those roles responsibly alongside the new equipment.

Even the best teams need sound ongoing technical support

However trained-up and keyed-up your workforce may be, it makes a huge difference if you partner with integrators which are able to offer strong, ongoing technical support. This is especially true in the area of automation and robotics.

Your robots may have been programmed to answer every production need at the time of installation, but needs change. Your customers come up with new requirements, and your production lines have to respond. High-quality technical support means you will be able to assess – and quickly access – different solutions.

Wisely, most companies installing automation would see this level of support as a prerequisite for doing business. Yet, it is surprising how often we come across technology that has been mothballed where it could easily have been reprogrammed to fit into a new or modified role.

A good supplier should also help to make in-house reprogramming easier. At Pacepacker, we now offer Pallet+ software, which facilitates programming for both palletising and case loading robots, without the need for either engineer visits or the use of a robot teach pendant.

Good Housekeeping is more than a magazine

Unless systems offer highly sophisticated self-diagnostics, customers should keep an eye on housekeeping and maintenance needs, too. This may simply be a matter of routinely ensuring the line is clean, that there is no accumulation of product residues or dust. These can block vital sensors or jam a belt, for example, triggering an overload.

Likewise, line managers need to be aware of wear and tear on key parts of the line and the impact this can have on smooth, uninterrupted operation. Regular checks during scheduled downtime can help to prevent serious failures during production periods.

Love your end effectors

If a robot is only as good as its programming, it is similarly only as good as its end effectors. Where a single robot is performing multiple actions and handling a range of pack types and sizes, changeovers may involve substituting one of a number of different end effectors. It is essential that processes and training are designed to ensure that the correct tool is always in place.

How different end effectors are stored and maintained is also important. For example, if foam pads on a gripper have been compressed in storage, this may mean that it can no longer handle product effectively.

Overall, worker ‘buy-in’ is critical to seamless automated production success. And this ‘buy-in’ must happen at all levels. A robotic malfunction is likely to be just part of the story and in most instances you can’t blame the robot for a production blip. In fact, well-programmed and maintained robots can liberate your workforce from mundane, labour intensive tasks, enabling everyone to use their time more productively and pursue more satisfying and professionally challenging career paths.

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The adoption of robots in industry has been chequered in the UK. A Centre of Economics and Business Research report states that the UK had a much smaller rate of adoption than in other developed, industrial countries, at 33 robots per 10,000 employees. In fact, the same report found that the number of new industrial robots installed in 2015 actually dropped 21% from 2014. However, there are signs that UK manufacturers’ attitudes to robots are changing rapidly.

Previously robots were seen as the preserve of larger industries, but there is a growing awareness that robots can offer similar productivity benefits to the SMEs that make up the bulk of the UK’s economy. Although prices have remained stable, advances in both software and hardware make today’s robots faster and much more powerful, ensuring that they are capable of many more tasks.

The food and drink industry in particular can benefit from the adoption of robots. Food and beverage production is becoming more critical to the economy, especially for the export sector. The Food and Drink Federation recently released figures that said the first quarter of 2017 was the largest on record, growing 8.3% year-on-year to £4.9bn, and this follows bumper 2016 figures. The organisation credits the weak pound and better promotion abroad for the increase. In periods of growth like this, companies are more likely to look at capital investment and consider more innovative ways to increase productivity. Robots are likely to be one of the investments that can gain the best yield for the manufacturer.

With Brexit on the horizon, there are fears that tariffs may affect this growth, while making it harder to recruit workers for the industry. Oxford University’s Migration Observatory estimates 36% of process workers in the food and drink industry are foreign born, so a recruitment shortage is a real possibility in the near future. Robots can fill this recruitment gap while providing additional benefits to manufacturers. Robots may have an initial capital investment, but provide savings over the longer term by increasing productivity. They also cut out a lot of the paperwork and red tape that can hurt businesses – robots don’t need holidays, pensions or salaries. Technological advances also mean today’s robots can work safely in the same areas as existing staff without the need for additional outlay on protective measures.

In the food and beverage industry, robots are mainly found at the back end of the line – bagging, packaging and palletising products. These robots are fast and reliable, making them perfectly capable of freeing up manpower to assist elsewhere in the factory. The key to these improvements has been advances in software and hardware, which make robots more flexible and easier to use. For example, there are a wide variety of robotic arm extensions that enable robots to deal with almost any type of container or packaging. Programming can also be done offline, allowing files to be set up beforehand, and quickly downloaded when the process changes and ensuring changeover times are kept to a minimum.

One area that has concerned manufacturers in the past, is the disruption caused when initially implementing robots in the production line. This can be minimised by partnering with an integrator with the domain experience, combined with high level engineering, automation, IT and operational skills. There is often tremendous value to be gained from working with companies that have refined their skills by taking on complex and bespoke projects. Having a solid track record of integrating disparate automation platforms is equally valuable, as it enables best practice to be shared between different applications.

An integrator with intimate knowledge of the food and drinks industry, such as Pacepacker, can offer advice from the very start of the process on the correct set up, robots, software and even provide tailored training to ensure implementation is painless. For example, Pacepacker and Festo have partnered to deliver training days to customers that can provide answers to any questions and advice on the latest technological advancements.

Strong supplier partnerships are equally critical to project success. As testimony, Pacepacker recently sourced equipment from nine different original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build its most complex case loading and palletising line to-date. Everything came from British based suppliers, including FANUC, Endoline, Capture Automation, LAC Conveyors and Festo. In total, the line comprised over 15 individual elements, including a unique mechanical end effector designed by Pacepacker that grabs hold of bottles in a single layer. The operation, which previously relied entirely on manual labour, has more than doubled processing and packing output for this client and is also reducing waste and eliminating workforce repetitive strain injuries.

Although the UK may have fallen behind the curve in the adoption of robots in industry, this is changing as manufacturers look to increase productivity. SMEs in particular have been reluctant to make the initial outlay on robots, and this is especially true for the food and drink industry. Europe-wide, SMEs with fewer than 249 employees account for more than 50% of the food and drink industry turnover. With Brexit looming, and fears of an upcoming shortage of manpower for the industry, there is no better time to look at automation. Robots are now more powerful and flexible, and assistance is readily at hand to ensure the transition goes without a hitch.

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Several respected market commentators have speculated that the cobot sector will grow by 50% year-on-year, reaching $1bn in 2020. The majority of this growth will be driven by uptake in automotive assembly, electronic parts assembly and medical device manufacturing applications. Thanks to safety and sensing technologies, these cage-free cobots can work side by side with humans on shared or separate tasks.

However, the opportunities in food processing or packing lines may be limited by speed, while payload could prove a challenge for cobots assigned to palletising tasks. Paul explains: “Right now industrial cobots are, by their very nature, small and agile. Although beneficial in a number of manufacturing settings, this can limit their usefulness in food factories.

“To minimise the risk of injury to humans, cobots generally work at much slower speeds than conventional robots. This means a cobot may not achieve comparable product handling pick and place speeds. Meanwhile, in palletising tasks, the weight that can be lifted may prove challenging for all but the strongest cobots. But we must remember that it’s early days for cobots. What’s more, a human/robot collaborative operation can still be accomplished even with the most conventional industrial robots.”

Addressing workforce safety grey areas

Each year around over 5000 injuries in food and drink manufacturing industries are reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), representing about a quarter of all manufacturing injuries.

Food production is especially fast paced. Workplace safety is forever evolving and for repetitive and strenuous tasks like manual product handling and packing, robots can address some of the key causes of human injuries. “When it comes to safety, you are ultimately reliant on people understanding and following the rules. Equally, safety risks will vary depending on your chosen robot and application,” highlights Paul.

Robotic work cells and plant layouts evolve quickly. This means that the risks can change rapidly too, so it’s advisable to regularly schedule a review of your safety policies. Contrary to popular belief, installing a cobot doesn’t eliminate workplace risk assessments. In fact, the ISO/TS 15066 safety standard introduced for cobots in March 2016 means that a comprehensive risk assessment is still required for both the robot and peripheral equipment.

“It must be noted that there are different degrees of collaboration and there are safe ways of introducing robot-human collaboration,” Paul emphasises. “A fully-caged, perimeter guarded robot at the end of the line isn’t always necessary, although may be warranted for heavy duty palletising operations.”

Adding virtual fencing software is one way to bring physical safety guards down and protect your workforce from automation hazards. Providing safety zones are not breached the robot operates at a normal speed. With this sensing software, the robot can be programmed with different ‘reactions’ for different zones and scenarios. For example, it can be programmed to perform an emergency stop when necessary or to alter its speed according to operator proximity.

Fenceless robot cells also facilitate quicker access for performing maintenance and part changeover tasks, notes Paul. “In contrast, shutting down a fully guarded system could result in considerable production downtime, more product waste and requires skilled engineering operatives, which may not be available in-house.”

The number of industrial robots deployed worldwide is expected to increase to around 2.6 million units by 2019 according to the 2016 World Robotics Report published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). If the commentators are correct, cobots could account for a large chunk of these sales. Yet, like other forms of automation, deployment of cobots within the food sector may be slower to emerge than other manufacturing industries. “Collaboration between humans and machines will be a key driver for future technological trends,” adds Paul. “In time, cobots may very well become the mainstay in food production too.”

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With BDUs being an increasingly common sight on the retail shop floor nowadays – particularly within wholesale and supermarket fresh produce aisles – automation specialist Pacepacker Services regularly recommends switching to a robotic solution.

Combining palletising reach and payload with gentle case loading end of arm tooling, these BDU robots are far less risk adverse, and can also significantly reduce product waste from bruising and damaged packaging, notes Pacepacker’s Automation Solution Team Manager, Ian Merchant.

Examining the basic physics of palletizing and the torque required to support the weight being moved, robots provide the logical solution, and overcome the issue of poor body mechanics and risk of back strain. “If you compare the reach of the FANUC M410 robot, at 3.1 metres it’s almost five times the reach of the average human arm,” says Ian.

He expands: “When working in a confined space, which most end-of-line palletising BDU cells are, moving shaped or unstable loads and excessive weights when stooping and twisting will increase the likelihood of workforce injuries. BDUs are typically 1 metre high by 1.2 metres in depth. Even with the front access gate open, reaching repeatedly into the back corners to place and layer sacks of potatoes or other root vegetables weighing anything from 2kg upwards will take its toil on even the strongest person’s body. Yet, if you drop product in from a height, you increase the risk of product bruising leading to unhappy customers and consumers. Both these scenarios impact profitability.”

Used in many palletising applications, the M410 robot can effortlessly handle anything from 25kg potato sacks, to tubs of animal feed and bales of pet bedding. Other robots, like the M20 or M710, can easily circumnavigate a 1m-unit wall and reach into the furthest and nearest corners.

The type of end effector used will vary by application. But with 80+ to choose from, including multifunctional tools, there are plenty of options. For bulky agricultural products, Pacepacker created a unique cradle gripper and this is proven to work especially well for loading BDUs.

Formed of two opposing finger sections, the grippers incline and taper to form a wedge. These fingers gently lower to cradle fresh poly bags of produce, delicately moving and placing them into BDUs. The tips of the gripper are rounded to prevent bags from being pierced. However, the motion of enveloping products in a cradle style is also designed to ensure the fingers don’t penetrate bags.

During the release stage, the gripper is angled to rotate and adjust according to the depth and positioning within the BDU. For corner placement, the fingers closest to the wall open, gently sliding the bag down into position.

“Accurate product placement is an important feature of an automated BDU loading system,” notes Ian. “A well stacked BDU will pack more in, ensuring retailers don’t have to replenish as frequently.”

The award-winning Essex-based company attributes the rise in bulk displays and their popularity to the recent success of low cost supermarkets. “We anticipate that the trend for BDUs will continue to grow as retailers look to drive greater cost efficiencies throughout their business,” concludes Ian. “Even if packing needs change, a robot can swiftly be adapted to perform another palletising or case loading task.”

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Live palletising time trials will demonstrate how to modify a stacking recipe using Pallet+ versus using a robot teach pendant. Thanks to graphical elements and value-entry boxes, the Pallet+ interface can be operated without users understanding complex programming language, cutting recipe programming times by up to 800%!

“Pallet+ is especially beneficial when handling rigid boxes where there is very little stacking tolerance, 5mm in some instances,” reports Pacepacker’s Technical Director Richard Gladwin.

Could this be the end of engineer programming visits? Pacepacker believes so, giving packers more machine uptime, faster turnaround and greater production capacity.

Compared to the previous steps of modifying a palletising stack format, which could involve multiple robot jogging and coordinated recording steps, Pallet+ users can perform programme changes on a control panel local to the machine or off-line via a separate computer. Pacepacker can even create new palletising recipes and email them to customers, or login remotely and upload.

Pallet+ is being installed on all Pacepacker’s new robot palletising systems as standard. It can also be retrofitted to existing robots supplied by Pacepacker, including case loading, from all food and bulk sectors. Operation requires little or no programming knowledge, which given today’s in-house engineering skills shortages is proving a real benefit. As testimony, one longstanding customer is converting its entire robot programming systems after trialling Pallet+.

Ideal for manufacturers and contract packers reliant on machine uptime to meet contract delivery schedules, Pallet+ enables factories to rapidly adjust to changing product formats, shapes and pack sizes, creating fast yet stable delivery pallets. It virtually eliminates any need for operatives to touch the robot pendant and cuts out all the time-consuming programming steps.

Pallet+ will appear on a fully automated case erection, loading, closing and palletising line up, which forms the centrepiece of Pacepacker’s PPMA 2017 display.

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Rather than relying solely on robot teach pendants, Pallet+ allows users to easily programme, change, store and recall new or revised robotic palletising ‘recipes’ using a more intuitive and easy-to-use interface. Catering to ever-changing product formats and designs, including volume, shape and size, Pallet+ users can easily modify the packaging parameters on the fly and in a very short space of time, with little or no robot programming knowledge. More importantly, once set up, modifying recipes doesn’t require constant intervention from the machine’s supplier.

“Traditional reprogramming of palletising machines can be a laborious, time consuming, trial-and-error process in primary, secondary and even tertiary packaging processes,” highlights Lee Moss, Pacepacker’s Electrical Design Engineer, who created the Pallet+ software.

All programming can be performed on a control panel local to the machine or off-line via a separate computer. Should users still require assistance, Pacepacker can create or re-programme palletising recipes and then simply email them to the customer – or even login remotely – removing the need for costly and time-consuming engineer visits.

“The benefits if this new approach are huge,” emphasises Richard Gladwin, Technical Director, at Pacepacker Services. “With robotic palletising systems, users have to understand the robot’s programming methodology and how to apply it using a teach pendant. This not only requires training, but also regular use in order to maintain familiarity. We’ve observed that very few of our customers use pendants for these very reasons, usually relying on an engineer’s visit. With this technology we have removed the need to touch the pendant, or at least keep interactions with it to an absolute minimum.”

Pallet+ is not just for new profiles, it also demonstrates huge benefits when it comes to fine tuning existing profiles. “Boxes are unforgiving,” Richard explains. “You cannot overlap them like you can with bags, so packaging profiles are very dependent on the dimensional tolerances, which can actually vary by as much as 5 mm in some box formats.”

Machine stoppages slashed from 60 to several minutes

Pallet+ gives users the capability to enter new packaging programmes without having to understand a programming language. “Using graphical elements and value-entry boxes makes the new Pallet+ interface much more intuitive to use; it really is remarkably simple,” adds Richard.

As well as offering ease of use and greater in-house agility, Pallet+ can reduce machine downtime by over 800%. “The knock on effects of a machine being down for even several minutes to downstream processes and delivery schedules – especially in the fresh produce and food sectors can have major cost and contract implications,” comments Richard.

Putting the time savings into context, Lee concludes: “Pallet+ can reduce machine stoppages from 1 hour down to just 5 minutes, potentially even less, with its offline programming capabilities. Previous packaging profile modifications would involve multiple robot jogging and coordinate-recording steps, but with Pallet+ this can all be performed and tested offline on a separate screen, with the only downtime being the negligible time it takes to transfer the data.”

Early successes have reinforced Pacepacker Systems’ faith in the capabilities of its new technology, with one customer already looking to replace all of its robot-based systems after trialling Pallet+ on one of its packaging lines.

Pallet+ will be offered as standard on all new robotic palletising systems supplied by Pacepacker Services. It will enable customers to become immediately self-sufficient, without having to sacrifice the agility needed to adapt to changing packaging shapes and formats.

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Speciality Breads produces over 100 different types of handmade bread, from focaccia to brioche and ciabatta, at its Margate bakery. The loaves are freshly frozen and supplied to wholesalers throughout the UK, for distribution to restaurants, pubs, cafés and hotels.

Since winning the contract to supply bread and rolls to the London Olympics in 2012, the company has seen consecutive year on year growth of 30%. To increase production capacity and drive NPD, in November 2015, the company opened a new £3 million bakery, just minutes away from its original bakery which opened nearly 20 years ago.

“It was vital that we invested in the latest infrastructure and resources to help us continue to drive further growth in the years to come,” explains Peter Millen, MD of Speciality Breads.

Planning for the project began in 2014, and Speciality Breads took control of the new site in early 2015. One of the last pieces of the puzzle was finding a palletising solution to stack cases of loaves onto pallets.

With no experience of palletising equipment, Speciality Breads asked Endoline Machinery, who had supplied upstream case erecting and sealing machinery, for a recommendation. Endoline put forward Pacepacker, an Essex-based designer of automated packing and palletising systems. “We hadn’t previously worked with Pacepacker but had heard some great things about their solutions and service so it was an easy decision to make,” says Millen.

Given Speciality Breads’ budget and space constraints (this was the last piece of kit to go into the factory); Pacepacker designed a single static 4 x 3.5m cell incorporating its second user Blu-Robot. Launched by Pacepacker in 2011 the Blu-Robot range consists of re-conditioned robots, originating primarily from the automotive industry, which are typically half the cost of a new system, enabling the user to achieve a far quicker payback. Satisfied with this proposal, Speciality Breads placed its order in April 2015.

The installation was completed in August 2015, ahead of the opening in early November. Within the space of a week, Pacepacker had commissioned and installed the system, and trained the staff on how to use it, leaving Speciality Breads with a fully operational robotic palletiser. “Pacepacker’s team worked very closely with our production manager and team to ensure the fitting process was seamless and we had all the support required to get it up and running with a minimum of fuss,” recalls Millen.

Cases from the high care area enter the cell on a powered roller conveyor and are presented to the robot narrow edge leading. The floor mounted six-axis FANUC S420 articulated robot arm picks the cardboard boxes and places them, in configuration, on the pallet, using a multi-cup vacuum gripper. Once full, the pallet is removed from the cell on a motorised pallet truck, and an operator puts a new pallet in its place.

Millen says that the investment in the new bakery has allowed Speciality Breads to increase its production capacity four-fold whilst helping to modernise certain parts of the business and improve staff skills.

Now, between them, the two bakeries produce over 100,000 individual loaves every day. The robotic palletiser is easily able to cope with this volume, which equates to approximately 50 pallet loads per day.

For Speciality Breads, automating this part of the process has been a revelation, according to Millen. “We were previously palletising manually, which was time consuming and a lot slower. The new system has revolutionised the process, making it easier and quicker to get pallets ready for delivery,” he says.

Millen expects the robot to pay for itself within three years, but says the business is already reaping the benefits of the investment through more efficient palletising. “The new system has cut the palletising time in half so it’s already paying dividends and helping us to increase production and drive new business and growth. The time saved on making up pallets, has enabled our bakers to spend more time on what they do best – baking the best bread.”

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Today, most manufacturers understand the efficiencies gained from automation. Even so, many are still reluctant to invest in equipment for fear of not being unable to recoup their costs if the contract is terminated.  Although the short-term nature of retailer contracts is a contributing factor to their reluctance to invest, other issues also come into play, including lack of technical knowledge, space constraints and the belief that systems are inflexible.

Switching from packing cakes to pork pies is simple with half a dozen manual workers, but what if you have invested in a robot to pack those cakes? The belief that robots and automation won’t flex to changing packing needs is a common misconception shared by many customers.  They need their systems to not only boost efficiency but to be a tangible asset, one that can be moved between lines to meet changing demands and new contracts.

We are all too familiar about how fast trends change, especially in the retail business. Yet, this shouldn’t deter food companies from exploring automation. Once the payload, reach and speed capacity has been determined it is relatively straightforward to reprogramme a robot to perform another task. Similarly, if products are a different size then some changes may be required to the end of arm tooling or even replaced, but by no means is the robot redundant.

Some robots can even be re-deployed into a completely different role within the business, for instance from pick and place to palletsing. Also, a robot is a tangible asset with a saleable value. So, worst case scenario, the sale proceeds can be reinvested into an alternative business project.

Likewise, space should not be an issue. There’s a vast range of robotic devices in different sizes, and the ability to customise Cartesian systems using components and linear drives at specified lengths is perfectly feasible. Whatever the manual operation is, a robotic provider should be able to provide an automated solution.

Re-programming a robot may sound daunting to many and put companies off investing.  Any reputable supplier will work closely with all project stakeholders to ensure appropriate training and ongoing support is provided. Remote assistance can also be provided if required so that office based engineers can take control of the HMi screens and help operators through the required steps or monitor what is happening through CCTV cameras.

For most, if not all customers, return on investment (ROI) figures can be the deal breaker. When looking to achieve ROI inside a year, manufacturers shouldn’t be swayed by price alone. A well-engineered solution will provide low cost of ownership for many years at a fraction of the cost of manual labour. Pacepacker recently developed a new ROI calculator – a comparative tool – that quickly measures the real value that a business can realise when automating different aspects of a production line. So, even with short UK retail contracts, an appropriate automated solution can be developed and accomplish the desired payback.

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Pictured right: Supermarkets group products together for convenience, and interest in mixed trays and delivery boxes is rising.

“In an effort to reduce food waste, rather than big weekly shops, almost half the nation is now more inclined to shop for recipe ingredients when they need them. With emerging markets like dinner subscription services really taking hold, food suppliers are exploring pick and place and packing solutions to ensure consumers have access to the freshest, most seasonal produce, and all the ingredients to whip up a menu showstopper.”

Like any trend, however, there remains a concern among manufacturers that today’s advanced system could become tomorrow’s expensive mistake as the food industry continues to evolve. Guiding wary automation first-timers, Pacepacker provides some helpful pointers to help minimise the future risk when adopting automation.

Automation isn’t just about keeping up with the latest fad, but also anticipating what will emerge next. If we’ve learned one thing, it’s that consumer behaviour leads the way. Right now, it seems the population is hungry for help in the kitchen. Thankfully, automation systems today flex to these changing needs and far from being one trick ponies, can easily be reprogrammed to perform a different task.

“Five years ago, who’d have thought that our mega-supermarkets would be stripping back their extensive ranges to create a simpler, easier to navigate shopping experience,” comments Wilkinson. “The grocery sector is having to be even more psychologically innovative, and this includes overhauling the layouts of aisles and grouping products, such as all of the components for stir fries, pasta dishes, or cake making, together.

“Busy lifestyles means consumers today don’t want to graze around the store as much. If they have a list of recipe ingredients, they want everything to be located logically near to each other, so they can be in and out of the shop quickly. To cater to this trend and help ensure even the smaller stores have what people need, retailers are increasingly asking suppliers to prepare mixed trays and cases.”

Reacting to this evolution, Pacepacker created its award-winning Mixed Tray Loader – the first known invention of its kind to automate product swapping. It enables companies to pack an array of products into a tray or delivery box.  When handling ingredients such as meat, fish and dairy, same day turnaround is vital to maintain freshness.

Pictured left: The popularity of dinner subscription delivery kits is predicted to continue to grow during 2016.

Companies like HelloFresh – which has over 250,000 regular monthly subscribers – are also enjoying considerable success, delivering weekly boxes direct to customers filled with a variety of meat trays and stock pots, fresh fruit and veg and spice sachets, according to the recipes selected by subscribers. “For food producers supplying this booming market, product quality and freshness are the underpinning factors. Even for a small operation, products need to be shipped fast and automation is a key tool for picking, packing and delivering orders within tight timeframes,” says Wilkinson.

Trend today… gone tomorrow

Trends are trends. While some stick, others don’t and then there are some classics that rarely go out of style. According to the Hot Food & Beverage Trends 2016/2017 report, fat is back, souping is the new juicing and subscription meal and cocktail kits are predicted to grow further in popularity this year.

Given the speed in which tastes and shopping habits change, agnostic equipment buyers need assurance that the automation solution specified can be adapted. “Most robotic systems can store as standard a range of different programs for different applications – 25 to 50 is typical – and these will cater for the foreseeable needs of most users,” highlights Wilkinson.

Pictured right: Robots can store a range of different programs, and switching end effector tooling is straightforward.

For seasonal food producers, this is especially reassuring. It means that you can switch between packing punnets of blueberries with cherries or strawberries, depending on what’s being harvested. “Realistically, someone packing soft fruits is unlikely to start packing turkeys or birdseed, yet flexibility is still paramount when selecting a system,” notes Wilkinson.

Major reprogramming is possible if additional applications arise beyond the scope of the existing programs. “It’s perfectly feasible for properly trained operatives to carry out reprogramming themselves, although for more complex applications it may be easier to call in the supplier, who deals with robotics programs on a day-to-day basis,” says Wilkinson.

No end to end-effector innovation

Whether you’ve commissioned a Cartesian system, Delta robot or robotic arm, the handling capability of a robotic system ultimately depends on its tooling, or end effector. Although most food producers have a tendency to handle similar products commissioning the most appropriate gripper for their application, if the business changes, swapping tooling is relatively straightforward.

Multitasking end effectors are also more commonplace today. Last year, Pacepacker developed an innovative shingle tray loader with an end effector that can handle any type of fresh and ambient form, fill and seal packs.

“Like any readily available commodity, a pick and place robot ‘out of the box’ will accomplish very little. It’s the ancillaries, applications knowledge, software and set-up you apply to it that will make all the difference,” claims Wilkinson.

Taking in the bigger picture

Vision systems might seem like an obvious way to go in order to improve adaptability. However, they can be as complex as the robots themselves to set up. “Where possible it is usually preferable to try to orientate and singulate product units through the use of lanes and other handling techniques, rather than relying on cameras,” suggests Wilkinson.

Even so, there are times when vision systems can be extremely helpful. Perhaps it’s very difficult to pre-orientate the product or maybe products are arriving at a pick and place station at very high rates that require multiple robots to cooperate, for example chocolates and bakery items going into trays and selection boxes of cheeses. Similarly, irregular shaped products, such as nuts packed in pillow bags, fresh cheese, avocados or frozen berries, might need the support of vision systems to detect the variations in height to ensure the robot retrieves and handles them gently, reducing the risk of product damage.

Given how fast moving today’s food business is, when choosing a system, a good rule of thumb is to specify a contingency of 10 to 20% in terms of payload or speed. In Pacepacker’s experience, it’s not that uncommon for requirements to change even before the automation project is complete.

Pictured left: Systems with multitasking end effectors, such as the shingle tray loader, can handle any type of fresh and ambient form, fill and seal packs.

Any system supplier should factor this in and be able to advise about optimising the balance between building in flexibility for possible future expansion and cost. “We always try to build in something extra in reserve,” adds Wilkinson

Select the silver service menu

Although a takeaway fills an immediate hunger, when investing in automation, it’s reassuring to know you have the a la carte menu for support and to adapt to changing production needs. The provision of spares, training, technical support and preventive maintenance services can all be key factors in determining how successfully an automated system performs in the long run.

“With appropriate servicing and support, an automated packing or pick and place system should run reliably for many years, we have robotic systems installed in 2002/3 that are still in full production 13 years on with no reports of any issues.,” claims Wilkinson.

Whatever food trends are on the scene or about to emerge, the robot revolution looks set to stay. “The food industry is facing a paradigm shift, where product freshness and quality rely on speed to market. Today’s generation of automated pick and pack systems are flexible enough to adapt to changing consumers patterns and preferences, which in the food sector is the mandate for success,” concludes Wilkinson.

Visit the Pacepacker Services website for more information.

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