Case studies from specific projects include: -------------------------------- Berri National Foods Limited Coca-Cola Amatil Sunburst Regency Foods Golden Circle

Berri had long been associated with Robotic Automation, having installed two previous robotic installations over the past few years, and asked R.A. to supply their PET containers de-palletiser system.

Berri's products are supplied in two and three litre PET containers and require careful handling due to the fact that are so light when empty.

These PET containers had been manually loaded directly into the infeed conveyors of the filling line but in an effort to increase productivity, reduce ineffective production practices and conform to the strict Australian food and safety codes, Berri Limited decided to look at other ways of handling the containers.

Options evaluated included layer depalletisers, robot depalletisers and specially designed machinery.

Robotic Automation was one of the companies asked to evaluate the application and give their recommendations. After an extensive evaluation period, Berri Limited awarded the contract for the depalletising system to Robotic Automation.

		"Our decision to go to a depalletiser system did have some constraints in the amount of space we had available and of course price and delivery were also major considerations. Robotic Automation quoted a very reasonable price, and delivered and installed the system in a very short time." Mr Hearn went on to say, "when you look at their system, it's very compact and it still gives us a large amount of accumulation,feeds the line on demand and doesn't require an operator." —Alan Hearn, Project Manager

The depalletising system was supplied as a turnkey system and features a Motoman UP130 robot with a specially designed gripper, safety fencing system, infeed conveyor and PLC control system.

A unique part of the depalletising system is the specially designed gripper which has the ability to pick up each layer of bottles by placing its box section frame over the top of each layer. It then activates pneumatic cylinders, which squeezes the box section in and locks the bottle together and stops any movement.

Robotic Automation are the exclusive distributor for Motoman robots and have many years experience in tailoring robotics to palletising and depalletising tasks.

COCA-COLA AMATIL

Coca-Cola Amatil has recently installed two Robopac fully automatic stretch wrapping machines from RA Technologies, at its Northmead plant in Sydney's western suburbs.

Critical to Coca-Cola Amatil's Engineering Manager Rob Mosley when choosing stretch wrappers, was reliability, speed and after sales service. Coca-Cola Amatil chose Robopac stretch wrappers from RA Technologies.

The 2 Robopac HS40 high speed fully automatic stretch wrappers were installed side by side in the warehouse and distribution area. The machines operate at speeds of up to 85 pallets per hour, providing protection and stability to the pallets of cans.

The success of the HS40 is its simplicity of design and ease of operation. As robust and reliable unites, the HS40 stretch wrappers will give many years of service.

The units were commissioned in late 1998 and have been operating successfully on two high volume production lines since that time.

HIGH SPEED ROBOTS AT SUNBURST REGENCY FOODS

Sunburst Regency Foods uses high-speed palletising robots at its processing plant in Smithfield, NSW, to handle a wide range of drink cartons in an around-the-clock palletising operation. The systems provide production flexibility in the way the company palletises existing products and those that will be developed in the future.

Problem
Sunburst is a leading supplier of juices and drinks packed in 'long life' cartons. Individual cartons are consolidated into shink-wrapped trays of different sizes and these emerge in random order from a common shink-wrapping tunnel.

The company was looking for a palletising system that could handle a wide range of tray sizes without having to be stopped and adjusted each time the filling line changed from one size of drink carton to another.

Solution
The palletising systems used by Sunburst are based on Motoman high-speed palletising robots supplied as a turnkey package by Robotic Automation Pty. Ltd. The systems incorporate product conveyors, product accumulation areas, automatic pallet dispensing, empty and full pallet transport, and full pallet accumulation.

Robotic Automation also developed the servo-driven, adjustable grippers which lift the various tray sizes. Operated by the control system, which was also developed as a part of the turnkey package, the opening size of the grippers and the layout of the pallet stacking pattern can both be altered during the robots' operating cycles.

		"The robots give Sunburst a new flexibility in the way it handles the palletising of its enormous range of products. And the capital cost of the palletising system was justified by a payback period of around 18 months." —Alan Hearn, Project Manager, Sunburst Regency Foods

These features mean that a wide variety of tray sizes and shapes can be fed to the palletising systems. At any instant the grippers' grip range can be altered and the appropriate pallet layouts selected to suit the trays being handled.

Trays emerge from the shink-wrap tunnel, are grouped by size and fed to two pick-off stations adjacent to both palletising robots. Each robot stacks two pallets concurrently by selecting trays from either of the two pick-off stations.

The robots are progammed to stack one size of tray on one pallet and the other size on the second pallet. They are also programmed to bias their selection to prevent a backlog of product building up behind either of the pick-off stations.

		System Benefits Motoman S series high-speed palletising robot palletises two different products streams at the same time. High productivity with palletising rates as high as 2,880 individual drink cartons per hour per robot. Small footprint minimises impact on warehouse storage area through efficient use of space. Simple control panel enables operator to instantly select alternative palletising program. Low maintenance costs since there are few moving parts and minimal need for adjustments by operators. High reliability since the robots have few moving parts and use long-life, heavy duty servo motors. Mean time between failure exceeds 20,000 hours.

IT'S A WRAP AT GOLDEN CIRCLE

The installation of automatic stretch wrappers from RA Technologies at Golden Circle's Brisbane distribution centre was part of a recent upgrade, which included a decision to stretch wrap all palletised product prior to it entering the warehouse.

Proven Ability
One of the key reasons Golden Circle chose RA Technologies was its ability to provide local service and backup through trained staff in its Brisbane office. RA Technologies were also familiar with Golden Circle's operations and says Mark Gibson, National Warehouse and Distribution Manager, "We were impressed with RA Technologies' range of equipment, too".

The company famous for canned goods and fruit drink products installed four stretch wrappers - two Robopac HS40 units in the manufacturing area, one for canned goods and one for beverage products, and two Robopac Twist units in the dispatch area, again one for canned goods and one for beverage products.

Satisfaction
Satisfaction with the performance of the Robopac stretch wrappers has led to a fifth stretch wrapper recently being added.

The HS40 wraps at a rate of 85 pallets per hour and the Twist wraps at a rate of 35 pallets per hour. In consultation with engineers from RA Technologies, it was determined that this combination would cater for current production of 150 pallets per hour and dispatches of 1700 pallets per day, and be able to cope with future increases in production. The system includes a pallet identification label being applied to each wrapped pallet.

RA Technologies is part of the RA Group of companies which have supplied world class materials handling, packaging, robotics and automation systems to Australasian industry for over 10 years. With facilities in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and New Zealand, RA Technologies can provide a high level of service.