Brillopak designed the
mechatronic Glove end
effector to top load
packs into containers in
a different angle to how
they are picked up
Brillopak’s UniPaker
handles 66 million kilos of
spuds a year for Morrisons
Morrisons fresh produce depot in At speeds of at least 75 packs per minute Once filled, the crates are stacked and
Rushden, Northamptonshire has installed for each cell, the two UniPaker systems palletised by an end-of-line robotic
two automated Brillopak crate loading cradle bags of potatoes, each weighing system.
potato cells, UniPaker, taking productivity from 0.5kg up to 2.5kg, loading one at a and efficiency to a whole new level. time into crates, following multiple sets MECHATRONIC HAND THAT PROTECTS
Capable of orientating packs quicker than of presentation formats. The installation, THE PACK
any human being, the robot arms “never which forms part of a warehouse-wide Because of the design of the end effector
miss a beat,” exclaims site manager Andy efficiency improvement investment, has it can be used to load Morrisons entire
Day. resulted in a 90% reduction of labour. potato product range. Likened to a glove,
Believed to be Europe’s first single pick Both UniPaker case loading cells house each potato pack. By doing this it can
potato packing cell, the UniPaker robotic two high-payload Omron Delta robots. accommodate the different sizes, weights
pick and place cell was engineered Working simultaneously alongside each and pack lumps for Morrisons’ extensive
by Brillopak in collaboration with the other, the robotic spider arms deftly loads range - exceeding 14 SKUs in a typical
Rushden team. Designed to improve potato packs individually into crates in set season - without having to swap the
product handling, minimise waste and patterns at the programmed orientation. tooling over.
enhance the presentation of pre-packed The robots do this with a degree of potatoes for the 11 million consumers dexterity and rotation that would not be For site manager Andy, the new glove
that shop weekly at Morrisons, the clever feasible with a layer-based automated concept has more than proved its
robot adopts a brand new automated handling system. capability. “With the level of air that’s in
the end effector works by enveloping
potato bags it was hard to conceive that
technique for gently loading vertical form
fill and seal (VFFS) and flow wrap bags Clean, empty crates are fed automatically a robot hand could load crates at such
into retail crates. into both cells at a constant pace by speed without popping or piercing the
two Brillopak Crate DeStaker systems. bag and damaging product.”
28 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk