Robotic Magic for Mascara Brushes at Geka Brush in Germany > 12–13 2 Packaging > April 2008 Contents
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PACKAGING A MAGAZINE FROM ABB ROBOTICS APRIL 2008 Sweet success packing delicate croissants at Dulcesol in Spain > 4–6 No broken hearts for Necco candy packing in the U.S. > 10-11 Sack savvy with robots palletizing bags in South Africa > 24 ROBOTIC MAGIC FOR MASCARA BRUSHES At Geka Brush in Germany > 12–13 2 PACKAGING > APRIL 2008 Contents Delicate croissants at Dulcesol in 4 Spain require a Editorial light robotic touch when it comes to picking and > Remaining competitive in a world of global packing. brand competition requires improved produc- tion. And the food industry has realized it needs help to automate its manufacturing and pack- aging processes. With long experience in the robot business, ABB can give the industry what Meeting stringent it needs. Our latest innovation is the IRB 360, a safety requirements, new FlexPicker robot that gives food manufac- turers a solution for delicate processes in a hygi- an innovative flu 7 enic environment (see p. 25). Whether handling vaccine syringe-packing pastries in Spain (see p.4), candies in the U.S. solution for Novartis in Italy (see p. 10) or canned fruit in Australia (see p. is the first of its kind. 30), ABB has a smart way to automate picking, packing and palletizing. A key element are the easy-to-integrate user-friendly software solutions in our PickMaster software packages. With more dedicated food solutions certain for the future, For food robots and sophisticated software will help and pharma- machine builders, system integrators and end- users get the best solution for them. By partner- 20 ceuticals, the ing with ABB Robotics, all industry players can right robot is paramount find a successful future in robotics packaging. when it comes to hygienic Frank-Peter Kirgis packaging of a wide range Segment Manager, Consumer Industries of products using robots. ABB Robotics The pharmaceutical industry is facing a wide range of opportunities, with growth in a number 10 PACKING: Candy producer Necco is the king of hearts in the U.S. of markets due to different factors. For example, More of the little sweets can be packed when robots take on the task. in the United States, the government’s order 12 PICKING: Beauty products - Geka’s makeup brushes produced for production of vaccines – flu vaccines such in Germany - get a beautiful handling solution. as those produced by Novartis (see p. 7) – is a driving force in growth. Emerging markets are 14 PACKING: Automation for allergy meds at AstraZeneca in Sweden. likewise experiencing growth. Personal care 16 PROCESSING: The icing on the cake for automation at Hacos items – shampoo or toothpaste, for example – is literally the icing of cakes using robots. are showing explosive growth in countries such as Brazil, Turkey, India and China. Meanwhile, in 19 TRENDS: From vision systems to training of new workers, the latest Europe, machine builders who provide the pack- in automation at ABB’s Global Packaging Forum 2007 in Las Vegas. aging systems for such consumer items is an 22 PICKING: A gentle grip packs éclairs at Bonomi in Italy. area to expect continued growth (see p. 12), as pharmaceutical companies continue to see the 24 PALLETIZING: Paper sacks bagged at Nampak in South Africa. benefits of automating their production, not just in efficiency, but in safety, hygiene and comply- 25 TECHPAGES: The new IRB 360 for demanding hygienic packaging, ing with safety regulations. cutting-edge software PickMaster and the latest in vision systems. 28 PACKING: More packages of crispbread sandwiches leave the factory Bengt Stom of Wasabröd in Sweden, thanks to robots.. Segment Manager, Pharmaceutical Industries ABB Robotics 30 PICKING: In the U.K., Ilchester Cheese chooses robots for production. April 2008 • International customer magazine from ABB for packaging industries • copyright 2008 • reg. no. ROB0087EN_A PACKAGING Marketing Manager Consumer Industries: Margareta Zeicu • Tel: +46 21 325 000 E-mail: [email protected] Publisher: ABB Robotics AB, 721 68 Västerås, Sweden • Content and design: Appelberg Publishing Agency • Printer: Edita, Västerås • Any use of text or photo requires the written consent of the publisher. www.abb.com/robotics NEWS < 3 Calendar 2008 24–30 April Winning together Interpack Dusseldorf, Germany > ABB has long offered the highest quality products, software and solutions for automa- 24 June–1 May tion in the packaging industry, not to mention a H.K. International Printing top-notch service network. Key to its offering is and Packaging Fair the possibility it gives customers to work with Hong Kong, China the best partners. For the end customer, it 21–22 May should be obvious where to go if ABB offers its ABB Global Robotics partners sales, marketing, technical, applica- Partner Seminar tion and service support. Plus robots, software grams and consulting at the silver level, plus Västerås, Sweden and engineering services, including cell design, co-sponsored marketing at the gold level, and programming, installation, gripper design and high-priority for R&D and early adopter access 24–27 September RobotStudio simulations. Training, invitations to to new products at the platinum level. All part- Packaging China key industrial events and access to our world- ners get to use the ABB partner symbol and an Beijing, China wide organisation are other good reasons for invitation to ABB’s annual global partner semi- 30 September–3 October choosing to be an ABB partner. nar to hear the latest trends and developments Mackropack 2008 Partnership with ABB works on three levels: in the industry from ABB and their peers. Utrecht, Netherlands silver, gold and platinum. Depending on the ambition and the level of partnership, partners To find out more about the Partner Program, 19–13 November have access to everything from e-learning pro- contact your local ABB organization. PackExpo Chicago, U.S. 17–21 November Salon d’Emballage Paris-Nord Villepinte, France Robots debut in chemicals in China > With increasing economic globalization, based in China’s largest oil base, Zinjiang. the packaging and palletizing in Chinese competition in the petrochemical industry The installation includes the first delivery of oil refining and chemical industry, say Tony and demands for industrial robot-based an IRB 660-based fully automatic palletiz- Wang and Liang Rui of ABB. automatic production lines, fully automat- ing line to CNPC Lanzhou Petro chemical. Key selling points for CNPC were the ed palletizing lines using packaging robots Seven ABB robots will be used for the pal- user-friendly Chinese interface of the IRC5 have become a trend for petrochemical letizing application. The installation shows robot controller and the FlexPendant, chemical manufacturers in China. how robots are a driving force behind the along with a high-quality and quick-to- The best evidence is a recent installa- increasing applications of packaging ro- respond service team. tion for CNPC Lanzhou Petrochemical, bot-based fully automatic palletizing line to www.abb.com/robotics 4 PACKAGING PICKING Packaging a piece of cake Delicate pastries require delicate handling to ensure that they make it to consumers in one piece. But delicate handling doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice efficiency, Spanish bakery Dulcesol has discovered. By Harvey Holtem Photos Manuel Lopez Figueroa www.abb.com/robotics PICKING 5 When Antonio Juan Mascarell set up Dulcesol, a small, family-run bakery, in 1960, he could scarcely “It’s much better than have imagined that by the early 21st century his com- pany would be a leader in the Spanish food sector. investing in a specific Although still owned and run by the family, it now operates out of two plants in the neighboring towns of Gandia and Villalonga near Valencia, and in 2006 packaging machine.” it posted 185 million euros in revenues, producing Cristián Serra, Dulcesol some 86,000 metric tons of cakes and pastries and employing more than 1,700 workers. Growth in 2005 alone was 5.7 percent, creating an additional 180 jobs. A great variety of pastries, many of them delicate, For visitors, this success story is spelled out by the come down the conveyor belts, destined for several spanking new offices, expanded production premises, different packaging formats. Any solution adopted new auxiliary facilities and production lines, all the had to be able to handle them as gently as a human fruit of the eur 75 million invested over the past four would and, at the same time, had to be adaptable years. Another new element, visible on some produc- enough to carry out several packaging tasks simul- tion lines, is a small team of robots engaged in pack- taneously. It also had to offer relatively swift pay- aging tasks. back on investment. After an exhaustive search for The robots were a response to one of the main the right equipment, Serra and his team settled on problems that has accompanied growth – finding abb’s FlexPicker irb 340 robot, along with a robot staff. “One of the main handicaps to maintaining controller. growth at the current rate is the difficulty in finding skilled labor,” says Cristián Serra, Dulcesol’s packag- The FlexPicker was introduced in October 2005 ing project manager. In view of this problem, he says, to package chocolate and cream-filled puff pastry “we had to examine those points in the production rolls, known as napolitanas. Some 24,000 napolitanas processes that use the most labor and find ways of are turned out per hour, 400 per minute. The freshly automating them.” As much of the baking itself is baked cakes come down the conveyor belt and are automated, the packaging stage is the most labor- picked from their moulds by a servo-driven needle intensive. extraction system. They are then placed on the feeder belt leading to the appropriate wrapping system and are primary wrapped.