Potential untapped

16 September 2013



Despite its potential benefits, some firms in the food and drink sector remain reluctant to move to full automation. But, says Paul Wilkinson, business development manager at Pacepacker Services, the options are now in place to make it an easier switch


According to the British Automation and Robot Association, BARA, demand for robotics and automation within the food and drink industry soared last year. Fuelling this is the belief that robotic uptake within this sector will grow by 3.4% by the year 2016 (IMS Research). However, despite some of the UK's biggest food firms embracing robotics, many are still hesitant, particularly in the area of pick and place.

Perhaps it's because food handling is often complex - a task many believe is best tackled by hand - or maybe it's due to the costs associated with bespoke automation or robotic solutions. It could, however, be down to a general lack of awareness of the current pick and place solutions and technology now available.

Automated solutions, particularly in packaging, are generally provided by multiple-axis (usually six) robots. While they're at the top end of the market for flexibility, they can also be incredibly heavy, compared with the product they are handling. A robot required to carry 5kg can weigh 150-300kg - bearing the weight of the arm as well as the items being picked up. This means that a vast proportion of their energy is used to move the robot, whereas the basic requirement is only to transfer an item from one place to another.

There are applications in which a robot will be the only suitable method, such as multiple picking of heavier objects, or an increase in end effector (or end of arm tooling) weight due to having multiple functions. Those who discount traditional robots will either avoid automation or endeavour to source alternative pick and place solutions via a machinery builder - both of which have risks attached to them.

Firstly, not adopting automation may mean that the business continues to operate less efficiently against its competitors; and secondly, placing an order for an unknown proven solution may lead to complete failure during the commissioning or operation phase of a project.

Labour saving
Most pick and place operations are still labour intensive, carried out by multiple operators standing alongside conveyors or at rotary tables. There are now many suitable solutions that can replace these manual tasks, coming in three main forms:

A pneumatic or motor driven mechanical system, with basic linear movement of mainly two or three axes, may well be the best solution for some operations where lower positional accuracy is required. These, for example, would be when loading delicate products such as netted citrus fruits or tomatoes into supermarket retail trays. Robots of either type would not necessarily be suitable, as the end effector could damage the product by its 'gripping' action, or it may not even succeed in picking packs up if they consist of highly irregular shapes.

Robotic arms, which have a high degree of movement and are fully programmable, are a well proven technology that has already dominated many areas of automation, including the car industry and machine tending, that require near-perfect repeatability and reliability. Based on some of the smaller robots available, this high degree of performance can now be applied to pick and place, and would be appropriate where products are put into boxes with flaps that require a larger working envelope than the Delta-style unit - such as packs of potatoes into merchandising units.

If a lesser degree of movement is required, then a Delta-style unit may be the solution. Capable of very high speeds, this style of pick and place unit has a typical usage area of picking up lighter objects such as chocolates or biscuits and placing them in a shallow box. A new generation of Delta units is coming onto the market featuring higher payloads to lift more weight, even coming in stainless steel full wash-down specification - ideal for putting packs of meat into trays.

Timing it right
There has never been a better time to look at making your facility more efficient and profitable by investing in pick and place automation; choosing the right partner to work with is key and your solution should enable you to have a system that is best for you and your products, has minimal risk attached to it, has good technical backup and, most importantly, offers you a good payback period and return on investment.

The often untapped and overlooked area of automation that is pick and place is an area of expertise for Pacepacker and we have recently boosted our product portfolio to include Festo's range of Mechatronics pick and place systems.

Unlike most other mechanical pick and place solutions, which tend to be highly bespoke and custom built, the Mechatronics 'off the shelf' range offers quick and costeffective pick and place components, and is tailored to the end-user.

The author's views expressed on this page may not be shared by this publication.



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