A fitting partnership Comprising two long stretches of The filled crates of potatoes then pass to
conveyor feeding bagged potatoes a double crate stacker, which places one
Because of the efficiency of the already from the manufacturing and bagging loaded crate on top of the other. From
automated back end section of the operations, each automated line features here the double stack is presented to the
warehouse, the Brillopak packing systems eight Brillopak elements. integrated yet compact palletiser.
At the start of the line a crate destacker For maximum efficiency, Brillopak’s
needed to boost the pick and place line
speed. Rather than commission a ready-
made robotic system, the Rushden team
worked collaboratively with Brillopak to
engineer a new pick and pack concept.
Unlike other depots that wash, grade,
pack, palletise and send out in the same
day, Rushden has a separate wash, store,
pack and case loading area. Because
there’s more fresh produce being
processed and stored, space at Rushden
is at a premium.
Andy explains: “Designing a system that
would accommodate our facilities tight
footprint was the biggest challenge.
Yet, having worked with Brillopak on
Thrapston’s apple packing line, I felt
confident that they could prove their
unit lifts and feeds Morrisons’ retail trays
at a consistent speed and continuous
stream on conveyors to the dexterous
P180 spider arm robotic cell. Snaking
alongside are the product conveyors.
Rumble technology is fitted to a small
section on each conveyor to help settle
the packs as the feed single file into each
P180 Spider Arm Unipick Dual Robot Cell.
Rather than using gripper end effectors
that would pierce the potato bags,
Brillopak designed a glove-like end
effector that wraps around each potato
pack robot arm lowering rapidly yet
gently into trays at very high speeds.
Filled trays then pass over a vibration
panel to settle the potato packs in the
concept and invent a modular automated crates. This ensures packs don’t get
system that we could introduce in phases caught when the bale arms close. If the
causing minimal disruption to our seven- bale arm is damaged, the crate is rejected
day-a-week processing and warehouse and the potatoes are returned to the start
operation.” of the packing process for reprocessing.
compact palletiser accommodates two
pallet stacks side-by-side. When one
stack is full the cell door slides open
and the full pallet is removed. To protect
workforce Health & Safety, only when the
cell door closes, does palletising on the
remaining empty pallet resume.
Overcoming orientation
The difference having an automated
packing line has made to the presentation
of fresh produce packs cannot be
underplayed reports Andy. “Product
accumulations and the speed in which
potato packs were delivered onto the
rotary turntable previously resulted in
irregular orientations,” he recalls. The
consequence was frequent production
stops and starts, and messy trays with
packs being placed into trays in different
angles and patterns. “Regaining control
over the orientation without stopping the
line was near impossible once the packing
pattern was lost,” adds Andy.
The robot arm doesn’t miss a beat, packing at high speeds, seven days a week
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