ABB robots boost productivity at Nestlé ’ s Brazilian plants by over 50 percent
ABB ’ s SafeMove collaborative robot technology enhances employee safety while increasing efficiency at Nestle ’ s confectionary factories . ABB robots are supporting Nestlé , the world ’ s largest food and beverage company , to improve the productivity of pallet loading in its chocolate manufacturing facilities in Brazil by 53 percent , using a new ABB palletizing robot solution .
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While the company currently uses ABB Robotics palletizing solutions , the latest requirement was for a more compact cell that could fit into a smaller area and easily be replicated at other sites . An important requirement was for the robot to safely interact with employees , who occasionally need to enter the palletizing area to speed up pallet changes . ABB ’ s new , compact robotic palletizing cell , co-developed by ABB and Nestlé ’ s engineering team , features an ABB IRB 660 robot with a suction gripper head to move boxes from the end of the production line to the pallet , stacking them accurately to ensure a balanced load , while SafeMove technology enables safe intermittent collaboration between the robot and production line workers .
“ Food and beverage manufacturers like Nestlé increasingly need more flexibility on their production lines to enable them to adapt to changing consumer tastes and demands , allowing their employees to collaborate intermittently with robots in their production centers .