Schubert says the high-speed operation and the machines' flexibility have so impressed Walkers' owner PepsiCo that more systems have now been ordered for Autumn installation.
The systems place up to three varieties of crisp packs into horizontal flowwrappers round-the-clock. Optical detection devices verify the quality of the bags and supply information to guide the pick-and-place robots. Supplied with special grippers, these pick-and-place either six or 12 packs into the in-feed chain carriers for transportation to the horizontal form-fill-seal machines.
Schubert's counterflow principle, in which the two chains run against the flow of the product conveyor, is said to guarantee fully loaded chain divisions. The lines are configured to process a range of pack sizes and return unidentified or incorrectly positioned bags to the storage hoppers.
“It was a challenging proposition to find a viable technological solution for packing our multi-packs which delivered high efficiency and flexibility, says Mark Grover, director of potato crisp production. “While the solution was not the cheapest, it became the preferred solution when all aspects were considered.”
Contact details
Schubert UK
T: +44 (0)1676 525825
