“ Up to three people were trying to manually pack flow wrapped apples into retail crates at a rate of up to 60 per minute per line . The packing operatives couldn ’ t consistently keep up with the pace , which meant upstream efficiency improvements from their grading and flow-wrap investments were impacted ,” recalls David Jahn , director at Brillopak .
“ Brillopak immediately understood what we were looking for and very quickly got to grips with the challenges ,” says James .
ERGONOMIC PAKSTATION REPLACES ROTATING TABLE
Brillopak ’ s engineers designed a semiautomated version of the traditional ‘ Lazy Susan ’ style packing station , which , later branded the PAKStation , was to go on to become one of its best-selling packaging solutions . The ergonomic system , which helps manual staff load packs of fresh produce into retail crates , has significantly enhanced productivity at more than 12 UK fresh produce packhouses to date .
“ The PAKStation has made the entire process easier for the person packing . Historically , packs were presented to packing staff on a Lazy Susan rotary table , which allows a large area for crates to accumulate . We wanted a solution whereby crates were presented to the operator without accumulation , so that the pace of packing is dictated by the machine rather than people ,” says Simpson .
The PAKStation gave Adrian Scripps a flexible semi-automated solution on two of its four lines . However , with the vast majority of the company ’ s production in one single format , and volumes increasing year on year , it wasn ’ t long before Adrian Scripps was ready for the next automation chapter – upgrading its other two lines to a fully automated workflow and installing two completely new packing and palletising lines .
“ Our orchard productivity has increased through advancement of the trellis system and the replanting of old orchards , introducing new varieties such as Red Prince , Gala and Braeburn . As a result we have doubled our per hectare productivity in the last 15 years , from 35 tonnes per hectare to 70-80 tonnes per hectare ,” says James .
He continues : “ We knew we had a lot more fruit coming into production between 2018 and 2022 , so we needed our packing facility to be able to accommodate this . In 2013 our facility processed approximately 30,000 boxes of apples and pears every week , each containing 10-12kg of fruit . Now typical weekly production is 80-100,000 boxes a week .”
FLEXIBLE UNIPAKER FITS THE BRIEF
The company considered other packing systems , but it was the inherent flexibility of the award-winning UniPAKer robotic crate packing solution that once again convinced Adrian Scripps to partner Brillopak on this project .
“ We looked at mechanical systems where the pack is turned to orientate it , but the flexibility of the UniPAKer won us over – it is infinitely programmable and allows you to make very small adjustments to get the pack to the exact target location ,” explains James .
Each of the four UniPAKer crate loading cells at Adrian Scripps houses two delta type robots , each performing a single pick . The benefit of a single pick is that it eliminates the need for accumulation . To maximise packing speed , the crate is dynamically loaded as it is moving ; working alongside each other , the robots take it in turn to partially fill the crate , picking individual packs off the infeed conveyor and positioning them deftly and precisely in the crate at the programmed orientation . The robots perform this task with a degree of dexterity and rotation that would not be feasible with a layerbased automated handling system .
Many robotics suppliers shy away from applications involving delicate fruit such as apples , as they bruise very easily . The speeds required to achieve target paybacks cannot be met without unacceptable levels of product damage , rendering some automation projects unfeasible .
Brillopak overcomes these challenges through innovative end-effector design , combined with in-depth knowledge of motion control and robotics .
“ Apples are not an easy fruit to handle because they bruise very easily . This , combined with the need to execute a range of crate patterns , made this project a challenge that couldn ’ t be met by a mechanical system . Brillopak rose to the challenge ,” says James .
For further information , please visit www . brillopak . co . uk
Issue 47 PECM 37