Case Studies

Production Line

Due to confidentiality we can not show images of this line in operation but can provide 3D design images that we produced. The cover image is a representation of the full production line and the image below is an overhead plan of the line.

When designing this new production line for our customer it was vital to keep in mind the important requirements that were discussed with them in our design and planning meetings. These included items such as production speed, reliability, servicing & availability of spare parts and most importantly safety of the line.
This full production line incorporates many different elements of the process taking the production of the product from initial filling right through to taping the box ready to be placed on a pallet for delivery to the customer.

All these machines are integrated together to ensure the smooth running of the line.
Each machine has its own control panel and safety system with Emergency stops connected throughout the complete line.
The Main HMI screen has each major machine linked back to it. Both the production and errors will be displayed on this.
Electronic cylinders and servo motors were used. These are adjustable on the HMI screens allowing for quicker and more accurate adjustment of each machine. This will also hugely reduce the running cost as less air will be used.
If desired by the client a cloud system can be used to monitor all machines and production remotely via a laptop. This will allow for adjustments of any sensors, vision systems, electronic cylinders or stepper motors and will also enable an engineer to fix any mechanical problems remotely.

This particular line includes the following:
-Filling Station
-Labeler machine
-Carton erector
-Tray erector
-Glue Station
-Robotic Cell (Nachi Robot)
-Shrink Wrapper
-Heat Tunnel
-Cobot Station
-Extendable roller conveyor

The nachi robot is based in the guarded robot packing trays.
The cobot works at the end of the line folding and filling boxes. As this is designed to work safely with people at a slow speed no guarding is required.
Mitsubishi PLCs and HMI were used to keep it similar to existing machines on the premises.
Emergency stops were fitted around the machine. All elements of this production line are fully CE Marked

We also organised Service plans through warranty of the machine with a predictive maintenance plan kicking in thereafter.

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Cobot Station

Cobots are Collaborative robots that are cost-effective, safe, and flexible.

One of our clients required line upgrades and decided for both production and safety reasons to install a Cobot station at the end of their production line to fold and fill boxes with their product.

Why did the customer decide to install a cobot?
The customer runs a small to medium size business and production line which they wanted to upgrade and make safer for their staff by reducing the likelihood of repetitive strain and accidental injuries. However they didn’t have the same availability of money to invest that larger manufactures may have. We held a number of consultations with the client where various options were discussed including the installation of a cobot. This solution appealed to them for the following reasons:
Cobots give manufacturers many of the benefits of advanced robotic automation, without some of the extra costs that may be associated with traditional robots such as long set-up and the need for shielded work cells or safety guarding.
Cobots can make automation affordable for small start up companies, for small-batch production runs and for companies that require mixed product assembly.
They are lightweight, space-saving, and easy to re-deploy to multiple applications without the need to change their production layout. This now gives the client the agility to automate even small batch runs and frequent line change-overs.

How this Cobot works:
The cobot picks a flat box and folds it using a multi head gripper and a folding system.
The gripper will then pick a layer of product trays from the conveyor and places them into the box.
Any trays that can not be picked will continue down the line as to not interfere with production.
Once the cobot has filled the box it will push the full box through a guide rail system and through an automatic taping machine to tape the box closed.
The boxes are then ready to be placed on a pallet to be transported to their customers.

As can be seen in the above image there is no guarding around the cobot this is not required as it is designed to work safely at a slow speed with people.

The necessary staff were fully trained on how to use the cobot and all found it very easy and straight forward. Both management and staff are delighted with how much safer and effectively their line is now running with the addition of this cobot.

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