Improved process quality
WIFA employees Chan-Yong Park (left) and
Sung-Dae Kang (right) pose with Lotte’s Soo-
Yong Jeon in front of the robotics installation in
Pyeongtaek.
Robot benefits
− − Improved productivity
− − Increased uptime due to
replacement of traditional
automation with more reliable
FlexPickers
− − Increased flexibility with vi-
sion infeed supervision
− − Reduced changeover time
between different product
lines
− − Very high pick-and-place
speeds of up to 110 per
minute
FlexPicker robots are used to load snacks
into trays, with each robot picking up two
or three pieces per cycle. The average cy-
cle is 45 per minute, and a single line is
capable of 560 picks per minute.
The entire process is overseen by a
single digital camera using PickMaster 3.2
software from ABB. Lee says that this al-
lows one line of FlexPickers to act as one,
with the workload evenly distributed.
“The FlexPicker is a natural fit for Lotte
as it provides the company with greater
flexibility in meeting different packaging
requirements,” he said. “In addition, it is
cheaper and takes up less space than a
conventional system.”
was satisfied, a potentially serious prob-
lem emerged during installation.
“The by-pass rate became a key is-
sue,” Lee says. “The client had set a
target of less than 0.2 percent. During
installation, this climbed to an unaccept-
ably high 2 percent. In full operation, this
equates to 72 pieces per minute being
wasted, or 4,320 pieces per hour.”
ABB worked with Lotte to redesign
the vacuum belt conveyor’s control sys-
tem and speed regulator. “We brought in
a dedicated engineer to solve this issue
on-site,” Lee said.
For Lotte, ABB exceeded expecta-
tions. “The support provided by ABB
resulted in a major improvement to the
Tweaking the system
stability and performance of our sys-
But even the best-laid plans go awry. Al- tem,” the spokesman said. “This is the
though the FlexPicker was hitting high kind of top-notch response we have
performance benchmarks, and Lotte come to expect from ABB.”
Lotte
Confectionary
Founded in 1967, Lotte Confection-
ary Co. Ltd. produces a variety of
foods, including biscuits, candy,
chewing gum, ice cream, rice cakes
and more. The company employs
more than 4,900 workers and has
production plants in Yeongdeungpo,
Pyeongtaek, Yangsan and Daejon.
Find out more at www.lotteconf.co.kr.
ABB robotics 2|10
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