The use of commercial robots has allowed the integration of full process lines thanks to the high levels of reliability they have reached.

Nowadays, due to the fragmentation of the market, which has cracked as a result of the incessant need to guarantee stability, there is often requirement for a diversity of less exasperating techniques and processes and the need to solve new elements, which have changed the outlook in each region, such as, an increased consumption, repetition of processes and a need for an increase in labor presence in production lines, increasing production to lower costs and to guarantee a continuity, accident prevention and work safety laws  and rules for technologic investment, which generally rise all sectors industry’s interest.

The decrease in the prices of the electronic components and the considerable number of manufacturers has allowed the production of robots in amounts that are higher to past figures, generating a strong competition among them, factors that result in a considerable drop in market prices. The robot cost has a tendency to disproportionate in real value in less than 8 years!

The reduced use of robots in packaging must be classified in two important phases: the high attributes did not match the situation of a geographic region where the human labor was still very competitive and the costs were too high, compared to specific mechanic solutions such as palletizers or traditional placers.

The use of standard commercial robots has allowed the integration of full process lines thanks to the high levels of reliability they have reached. In the last ten years, the programming platforms are friendlier, the self-learning systems have evolved, parts have standardized and the response of manufacturers is a lot faster. Looking at the current situation, the first consideration is that robots are ultimately classified as “naked” elements, meaning that they can be sold in a more autonomous way than in the past (in fact, a decade ago it was a policy that it had to be a part of a more complex equipment) and perfectly adjusting to the structure of a functioning plant. Buying what a company really needs.

Finally today, the speed and features of equipment defined as commercial or standard merge perfectly, and with the flexibility requirements driven by the packaging machines; furthermore, the robots’ ability combines very well with the need to arrange the packs according to very particular schemes, achieving millimeter precisions. In many cases, there is a requirement for performances and mechanic responses that would be difficult to accomplish with traditional automated machines.

The technical solutions are varied and split in different trends of thinking:

- Very light and fast robotized systems with clinging of one piece at a time, through simple and light grab organs but with the restriction of not being able to rotate the “pulse” and changing the supporting face of the confection.

- Larger and slower robotized systems, but with a high load capacity provided with complex clinging systems and able to grab different articles.

The use of the robot in the packaging lines many times generates new architectures where machines operate parallel to each other. Packaging lines are achieved where it is possible to increase the production including a robot; or delegating different tasks to different robots it is possible to obtain lines that are capable of operating contemporarily on more products.

A noticeable example of the interest many companies have in the logistics aspect integrating production and sales, managing the palletizing operations on the basis of the orders entering.

Definitely, a robot allows you to perform important functions in a reduced space as compared to the traditional palletizing systems.
It is enough to determine an independent or integrated working island to full lines where a particular operative flexibility is required.
The robot’s head is generally designed to be able to install a tool that adjusts to the functions for which the device has been installed.

In the more common applications, a robot will then be able to move flour sacks, cardboard boxes, plastic baskets, pieces of metal, cut with high pressure water, assemble some pieces, among others.
It sounds like a contradiction, but it is worth to reconsider a true tip. The robot is not always perfect and fast, and it has certain limits! To take an example with cardboard boxes, the traditional systems turn out to be more effective and functional. The maintenance requires highly trained technicians, whereas comparing with the traditional mechanic systems, any electric-mechanic technician could have access to the equipment, reactivating the line in a considerably brief time or reproducing pieces in local shops.

In conclusion, robots are entering massively under the effect of a market, so some characteristics are acquiring certain significance.

Let’s see them in detail:

.- applications characterized by quick production start-up times, the famous  “time to market” is today substituted with the more notorious “time to volume”, meaning the time necessary to achieve the preset volumes of production;

.- pursuit of flexibility, to quickly change the mix of production between previously established formats, but today also “adaptability” to be able to, in adversity,  reconvert with extreme facility the creation of “future” products not yet defined in the company;

.- non exasperated productive cadences, as a response to the market niches;

.- integration and programming ability, with universal and friendly systems.

.- a search for robotic technologies that will offer integrated systems that may combine with an existing conveyor structure such as multiple operation to quickly complete a productive process.

.- consideration of the economic factor where robot prices are decreasing, as a result of a higher competition among manufacturers who wish to compensate, with their introduction in some “new” defined sectors, the sensitive drop of the volume of robots sold in the traditional metal mechanic industry.

.- the introduction of robotics in the market obligates the manufacturers or confectioning machines to improve their features; this is synonym of an improvement in the quality of process and in consequence of the finished product destined to the final consumer.

Finally, it is necessary to break paradigms between men and work, where a constant formation of technicians and line operators in companies will have to coexist with an aid and not an enemy. Delete the resistance to change!

Roberto Cavallini
rcavallini@isagroupca.com

For more information consult our product Robot - End Line & Handling

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