Case studies from specific projects include: -------------------------------- Australian Meat Holdings Arnotts Biscuits Berri Limited Debco Sunburst Regency Foods Leading Paper Products Manufacturer Nufarm Philip Morris

AUSTRALIAN MEAT HOLDINGS

Robotic Palletising in an Abattoir

Australian Meat Holdings' facility at Dinmore near Ipswich is the largest in Australia, killing 2,300 head of cattle per day. As part of the expansion in their freezing and handling capacity, Australian Meat Holdings utilise two Motoman SP100 robots from Robotic Automation for palletising.

The robots are located in the cold store area where temperatures approach 0° C and are used to palletise 30 kg cartons of frozen beef. To cater for Australian Meat Holdings' domestic and export requirements, the robots are programmed to palletise a range of different sized cartons into different palletising patterns.

		Turnkey Solutions As part of their palletising solution, Australian Meat Holdings require each robot to be capable of palletising up to 6 different products simultaneously. This is achieved via bar code readers which scan the unique barcode on each product. The barcode scanner has many roles; it identifies the product to the robot software so that it can be correctly palletised, and it operates as a built in check; if a barcode is wrong or illogical, the robot will put the product on a reject line. Barcodes are used in conjunction with conveyor sorters to feed products to the correct robot. The system is broken into 2 separate cells, with each cell containing 1 robot and 6 stations/pallets stacking 6 different products at any one time. The use of separate cells enables routine maintenance and breakdowns to be attended to without halting production entirely. The robots use a tyne gripper designed and engineered by Robotic Automation to ensure a firm grip of the boxes.

The upgrade to automated robotic palletising is part of Australian Meat Holdings complete renovation of their Dinmore site. Previously, they utilised manual palletising. Around 60% of the frozen palletising process is overseen by 1 robot operator.

System Features
The system designed by Robotic Automation is flexible and able to grow in line with Australian Meat Holdings' increasing production. Initially, the robots will palletise 2 different sized boxes but will eventually handle 4 different sized boxes. Starting with 2 robot cells, the turnkey installation designed by Robotic Automation has the capacity to expand to 4 separate robot cells.

The system includes a unique shuttle and "park" bench designed by Robotic Automation to deliver empty pallets to the robot and remove full pallets. If a new pallet is moving into place, boxes are stored in the park bench to ensure smooth flow of production. No accumulation conveyors are used in the pick off or infeed roles. The shuttle conforms with height restraints within the facility and incorporates a heavy duty lift mechanism to handle each pallet of 36 cartons, weighing over 1 tonne. Pallets are dispensed from a 2 way pallet dispenser.

Robotic Automation are leaders in palletising technology, with robotic palletising ideally suited to palletising a range of high volume products simultaneously. Through their close association with Motoman, Robotic Automation offer a complete turnkey service; site evaluation, design, supply of all automation equipment including optoelectronic and barcode equipment, installation, commissioning, operator training, and after sales support.

AUTOMATED PALLETISING OF TIM TAMS

In 1996, when Arnott's Biscuits Limited began planning their new manufacturing plant at Huntingwood in western Sydney, they set out to incorporate the latest in manufacturing, materials handling and packaging equipment.

Arnott's looked at several options for the critical case handling and palletising before choosing a robotic palletising solution designed by Robotic Automation Pty Ltd. In 2002, Arnott's have again chosen Robotic Automation to add an additional robot to meet growing demands.

Robotic Automation was able to achieve a solution which takes current and future production data to schedule the robot cell utilisation. This consultation process covered the production scheduling, required software, layout of the plant and methods for achieving maximum throughput.

To minimise teething problems and downtime, Robotic Automation undertook extensive system trials in their Sydney premises before installation.

		The turnkey system, using Motoman robots for the main palletising system including all control and pallet conveying and Colby for the case sortation system, has the following features: 10 product lines feeding to 5 robots Caters for hundreds of different case sizes and numerous palletising patterns with a 1 minute change over Shuttlecars to rapidly transport pallets A.B. Panel View operator touch screens Full integration with plant PLC system Automated sorting and bar code reading No manual handling of product Servo parallel jawed grippers to lift boxes on 4 robots and vacuum on the 5th

This commitment to the customer combined with Robotic Automation's proven ability to tailor a unique turnkey solution was a key factor in Arnott's decision to choose Robotic Automation to design and supply a similar palletising system for their plant in Queensland.

BERRI DE-PALLETISER

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 are 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 consideration. 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, Sunburst Regency Foods

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.

DEBCO

Since their beginnings almost 30 years ago at Tyabb just outside Melbourne, Australian owned Debco have grown to become one of the leading producers and marketers of potting mixes in Australia.

Debco put their success down to ongoing research and development programmes coupled with the implementation of new standards for the manufacture of their products. In keeping with its policy of leading the quality end of the market, Debco has pledged not only to meet but exceed Australian Standards for commercial and domestic products.

Debco's modern in-line system uniformly packs each product under strict quality control. In keeping with these high standards, Debco recently commissioned Robotic Automation Pty Ltd to design, supply and install a robotic palletising and stretch wrapping turnkey system at their brand new western Sydney manufacturing facility.

The system designed by Robotic Automation incorporates a Motoman SP100 high speed robotic palletiser, a Robopac Twist fully automatic stretch wrapper and light curtains & optoelectronic sensors.

Flexibility and Speed
Using a Motoman robot for palletising allows Debco the flexibility of palletising a range of bag sizes from 10 litre up to 50 litre bags on the one piece of machinery. The robot is equipped with a tyne gripper designed and built by Robotic Automation which is ideally suited to handling bags.

To maximise the rate of palletising, Robotic Automation incorporated a special pick-off station in the Debco system which raises each bag to a pre-set level before the robot picks it up for palletising. When used in conjunction with a pallet dispenser, the task of palletising is continuous.

To complete the process, a Robopac fully automatic stretch wrapper has been incorporated as part of the system. The fully stacked pallet is moved to the stretch wrapper where the load is automatically secured and protected by stretch film.

To ensure the entire process is safe for personnel working in the area, light curtains have been incorporated as part of a perimeter system to guard the system.

The entire process is overseen by one operator via a panel view touch screen. With software written by Robotic Automation, this touch screen gives the operator an instant overview of the palletising and stretch wrapping process and the location of product within this process.

Through their experience in solving palletising problems and close association with international suppliers of a range of equipment, Robotic Automation offer a complete turnkey service; site evaluation, design, supply of all automation equipment, installation, commissioning, operator training, and after sales support.

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 section to prevent a backlog of product building up behind either of the pick-off station.

		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 panal 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.

LEADING PAPER PRODUCTS MANUFACTURER

As part of the multi-million dollar refurbishment of the Victorian plant of a leading paper products manufacturer, equipment and expertise from the RA Group were utilised in a high speed robotic palletising and stretch wrapping line.

This turnkey project called on the resources of RA Group companies' Robotic Automation and RA Technologies. It is the single largest robotic palletising system in Australia.

The system makes light work of a wide range of often oversized or non-standard shippers and contains six Motoman SP-100 high speed palletising robots, two Robopac HS40 rotary arm high speed stretch wrappers and a myriad of barcode scanners, sensors, light curtains and other safety devices.

The Robopac HS40 stretch wrappers have a capacity of over 80 pallets per hour and have no difficulties with the very high and light pallet loads at this leading paper products manufacturer.

NUFARM

Based in Laverton on Melbourne's outskirts, Nufarm Limited produce a range of agricultural crop protection products as well as industrial and specialty chemicals. To meet increasing demand for their products, Nufarm upgraded their palletising operations through the installation of a Motoman SP100 robotic palletiser from Robotic Automation Pty Ltd.

Happy with Results
Nufarm are using the Motoman SP100 to palletise products in 20 litre pails and 20 litre plastic "cubes". With a payload of 100 kg, the SP100 is ideally suited to high speed palletising of heavy products. In operation now for several months, Nufarm couldn't be happier with the results.

Flexibility and the ability to expand were driving reasons behind Nufarm's choice of robotic palletising. By custom designing the gripper, a robot can be used to pick up and palletise pails, cubes, bags, boxes, cartons, tins, just about anything! And by using a robot to palletise heavy products, Nufarm is eliminating Occupation Health & Safety issues associated with manual palletising.

To ensure the palletising process is safe for personnel working at Nufarm, light curtains and optoelectronic sensors have been incorporated as part of a perimeter guarding system.

Robotic Automation are leaders in palletising technology and offer a complete turnkey service; site evaluation, design, supply of all automation equipment including optoelectronic and barcode equipment, installation, commissioning, operator training, and after sales support.

PHILIP MORRIS

The Philip Morris Limited Moorabbin manufacturing plant in Melbourne recently underwent a complete upgrade of its manufacturing, materials handling and palletising systems. A sophisticated multi-lane, multi-product, robotic palletising line was designed and installed by Robotic Automation.

The plant employs around 800 personnel and manufactures many well-known brands in a high-speed manufacturing environment. The upgrade had to comply fully with the latest workplace noise and other strict safety regulations, as well as being compatible with the HMI (Human Machine Interface) control system.

Robotic Automation worked closely with Philip Morris in designing a flexible robotic palletising system that easily integrated into the new conveyor system. This final stage of the plant modernisation will be completed with the commissioning of the multi-lane robotic palletising line, which comprises four six-axis articulated Motoman Sk120 robots, a product sortation system, robotic shuttle car and automatic support machinery, including pallet dispenser, taping machine and Robopac stretch wrapper.

A unique seventh axis on the Motoman robots operates as a servo gripper, enabling it to open and close on any carton size while instantaneously allowing each robot to palletises two pallets with discrete product lines. Currently, the line operates at around 20 pallets per hour but has the capacity to operate at three times this speed as the manufacturing output increases.

Each of the four robot cells is operated independently and allows total flexibility in operation and product flow, as one or more cells can be shut down without affecting the operation of the rest of the plant. Each cell has a dedicated Siemens 95U PLC networked to a central Siemens 135U PLC. The entire palletising system is controlled by a SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) program, which was designed and written by Robotic Automation's engineers to conform and interface to the existing sophisticated Philip Morris HMI system.

Using suction pads (a unique solution designed and engineered by Robotic Automation), the robots take the slip sheets from the slip sheet magazine, placing them on top of the pallet layer as required.

Another unique solution designed and engineered by Robotic Automation specifically for Philip Morris' requirements is the shuttle car system that removes each pallet of product as it is completed and replaces it with an empty one supplied automatically from a pallet dispenser. The full pallets are taken by shuttle to a Robopac stretch wrapper or a taping station for securing, and are then discharged to storage and taken away by forklift truck.