ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION
Robotic demand soars
Gloucester-based CKF Systems Ltd has announced that it has taken orders totalling £5.5million in the past sixmonths. The provider of automated and robotic solutions claims that they have seen demand rocket fromboth newand existing customers. “Itwas a quiet start to last year butmore FMCGmanufacturers are nowtaking the bull by the horns and introducing automation to improve production and reduce costs,” says BryanWheeler, Managing Director of CKF Systems. “There appears to be a growing realisation in the UK and Europe that waiting for an economic upturn is high risk and that immediate action is necessary to stay competitive and profitable.”He continues: “Whilst currentworld financial forecastsmay not inspire confidence, investment in robotic systems is growingworldwide and almost always presents immediate benefits, not least an early payback! In just three yearswe have seen our teamincrease from25 to 45 people and turnover double.” For more information call 01452 424565, email
info@ckf.co.uk or visit
www.ckf.co.uk.
All or nothing?No!
Cutting costs by rationalising and optimising the operations of the plant is a common target among production companies. Elettric 80 say that their scalable Freeway system provides the ideal solution through custom-designed automation for fast- moving consumer goods plants, especially those with two-shift operations or more. Elettric say the system can either automate the whole end-of-line process of the production plant at once or, focussing on an ideal future solution, be limited to chosen parts of it, in which case it
UK robot benefits
Who would have thought it? Robots being responsible for job creation? It has been demonstrated repeatedly that automation and robotics increase productivity and efficiency and growth. The Automating Manufacturing Programme, funded by the
can be extended and complemented at any time without significant extra cost or trouble. Furthermore, the systems can also reportedly be implemented with minimal disruption, often while production is still up and running. According to the company, Elettric 80’s parts integrate perfectly with existing ones, thanks to the fact that the company designs all of the equipment themselves. Elettric 80’s systems are used worldwide. For more information call 00 46 31 708 60 36 or visit
www.elettric80.com.
government, aims to increase the competitiveness of UK manufacturing, which will create growth and in turn result in greater employment. A recent study demonstrated that three million jobs have been directly created in recent years by the use of robots and a further one million positions estimated globally by 2016. As a result, the government is providing, through the PPMA Group, up to £600,000 of funding to promote automation in UK manufacturing. PPMA group’s Chris Buxton commented: "We are delighted that the government has put its full weight behind this programme.” For more information or to apply for a government fundedAutomating Manufacturing review, call 020 8773 5511 or email
grant.collier@
ppma.co.uk.
Automated
warehouses LINPAC Allibert has designed a new version of its award-winningMaxinest grocery retail tray to meet the growing demand for equipment that works seamlessly with the latest automated filling, weighing and handling technology. TheMaxinest+, says Linpac, is the most advanced in the Maxinest range, which now features 20 variations.Widely used in supermarkets for grocery and bakery distribution and display, Maxinest protects, maintains quality and promotes hygiene for many food items. A recess under the bale arms on theMaxinest+ allows access by robotic stack/nest systems,
INVESTINGIN COMMITMENT
Sherwood Press has further enlarged its expanding packaging division with investment in a new Komori Lithrone six colour S40 with coater. The press has been bought by Sherwood to concentrate on environmental packaging production. Says Sherwood’s Jeremy Bacon: “We are concentrating on developing the high value quality end such as food-to-go, cosmetics
and high end garments.” According to Komori, the environmental benefits of the Lithrone S40 series secured the order, asMr Bacon confirms: “Its on-press efficiencies massively reduce waste through the labour and time saving benefits of its very high level of automation.” For more information call 0113 823 9202 or visit
www.komori.com.
while the reinforced base has been designed for quiet, smooth operation on all conveyor types and to meet the close tolerances demanded by robot pick and place systems. For more information call 0121 506 0100, email
linpacallibert-uk@linpac.com or visit
www.linpacallibert.com.
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