Drives and Controls January 2023

42 n PACKAGING January 2023 www.drivesncontrols.com Scara robots help food firms to raise output A n established manufacturer of baked sweets with a history stretching back more than 100 years, recently installed an array of Scara robots to optimise production capacity when packing the sweets into boxes of various sizes. Using traditional manual packaging, the company needed a varying number of workers depending on the numbers of boxes and quantity of sweets being packed. The table in Fig 1a shows how the optimum number of workers fluctuated depending on the production target. This posed challenges to managers to ensure that they had the right number of workers each day. A team from Yamaha’s European robotics business analysed the packaging workflow and suggested installing an array of eight Scara robots linked by linear conveyor modules. The YK400XE robots have 4kg payload capacities and 400mm-long arms. Each robot was integrated with a vision system to check the orientation and position of each item being packed. The automated system (Fig 1b) can operate continuously for 24 hours per day, with supervisors working eight-hour shifts. The LCMR200 conveyor modules give the flexibility to adjust the stop position quickly to accommodate boxes of different sizes. “Only one worker is needed to supervise the robots, which eases the management of human resources and stabilises production, ensuring that all orders can be fulfilled efficiently,” explains Jumpei Ninomiya, a sales manager in Yamaha’s European factory automation section. According to spokesperson for the sweet manufacturer, the new system is delivering labour savings, and has also improved productivity, cut costs, and reduced human errors, thus enhancing quality. The robotic installation is “enabling us to preserve our history and tradition, while modernising our processes and delivering even more delicious baked sweets to our customers.” Manufacturers handling meat products face rather different challenges. The environment where the meat is handled must be kept at a constant temperature of around 4°C. Humans cannot work safely in such conditions for long periods. A company working in this sector has successfully automated the labelling of fresh meat packages in cold conditions using Scara robots. It had previously considered using parallel link robots, but found that these large, heavy machines needed strongly engineered gantries with securing anchors. This would have been be impractical to install, so the company opted instead for an orbit-type Scara robot combined with a machine vision system which recognises the packages and detects the position for adhering the labels (Fig 2). The omnidirectional gantry-mounting YK-TW robot is relatively light and has a low height, resulting in a low inertia and avoiding the need for a bulky frame. A purpose-designed mounting bracket eliminates the engineering overheads associated with designing a custom gantry. “This company had never used robots before, so our team helped them perform a preliminary evaluation with the YK-TW to confirm that it would meet their requirements,” Ninomiya explains. The robot can work in narrow spaces, with its R-axis passing under the main unit to operate in the workspace below. A spokesperson for the meat-handling company reports that since installing the robotic labelling system, demand for its chilled and frozen products has increased. The compact dimensions of the robot system allowed it to change the factory layout and add extra production lines to increase capacity. According to Ninomiya, in both of these food industry applications, the use of Scara robots allowed the companies to achieve their main goal of cutting The food industry is increasingly turning to robots to help with operations such as packaging and labelling. Here, we look at two recent applications that illustrate this trend. Fig. 1a and 1b The sweet manufacturer’s previous manual packaging operation (top) became inefficient when more than the optimal number of workers was present in the production area. The newly installed Scara robots (bottom) can pack sweets accurately and at a consistent speed, around the clock. Fig. 2 The automated meat-labelling system operates continuously in the ambient temperature of 4°C, maintaining consistent output and accuracy labour costs. “In each case, they were also able to improve quality and productivity, and simplify management of production and resources,” he adds. “They were also able to increase output quickly to take advantage of new market opportunities.” n