Automation enables cheese manufacturer to compete on the world market
The challenge for all Australian industries is how to compete
in a world market where labour costs can be so much lower
than our own. By investing in technology, deploying
personnel into high value-add positions, and by applying
Australian entrepreneurship and ingenuity Australian
manufacturers can stay one step ahead of their international
competitors.
One significant, but sometimes overlooked, area in which this
is being achieved is automation of the back end. The robot
that is capturing the attention of savvy manufacturers for
these fast pick-and-place applications is generically known as
the FlexPicker. Technically described as a parallel kinematic
robot this type of robot features multiple-jointed arms
connected at the top and bottom, so it looks rather like an
octopus with all its legs clenched in a single point.
This new breed of industrial robot – the FlexPicker – was
developed by ABB Robotics and is an ultra-fast, flexible pick-and-place robot with a
payback time of just twelve months. The FlexPicker is capable of identifying, picking and
placing more than 120 objects per minute moving continuously along a conveyor.
A large international cheese producer became one of the first organisations to adopt this
new flexible picking technology. Producing 800 tonnes of traditional Nordic cheese a year
plus six million pots of different varieties of yogurt and quantities of feta cheese, low-fat
soured milk and soured cream annually, the challenge facing this producer was how to
increase output while operating in the very low temperatures required by the cheese
manufacturing process.
The solution? Use the FlexPicker robots for packing their cheese and dairy products to complement the two IRB 140 robots and FlexPalletiser already installed and running in the plant.
Integration of Vision and Robotics
The key to all advanced robotic implementations is the
degree of sophistication achieved when integrating a
Vision system into the total solution.
The speed that Vision systems can achieve both in
locating as well as checking enables this new breed of
robot to run 24 hours a day seven days a week with
total reliability, incredible accuracy and high speed.
Detachable Gripping Tool
A camera photographs the block of cheese or pack on the conveyor belt and determines
its position and direction. The robot adapts to the speed of the conveyor belt and lifts the
piece to be moved to the next position. A block of cheese can weigh up to one kilogram
and the rate of transfer can be two transfers per second. This solution saves on floor
space, as the robot is always installed above the conveyor belt.
Hygiene is Paramount
The first FlexPicker transfers blocks of cheese to vacuum packs. This robot is in the
dairy’s clean room. As the robot grips the actual block of cheese, particular attention has
been given to hygiene.
The robot’s detachable gripping tool can easily be washed twice a day.
A second robot packs the sealed vacuum packs into shop packs each comprising eight
blocks of cheese. The system guarantees that only faultless and complete blocks of
cheese are packed.
Machinery Automation & Robotics
1/101 Derby Street
Silverwater NSW 2128
Phone: (61) 2 9748 7001
http://www.machineryautomation.com.au