FEATURE MACHINE BUILDING, FRAMEWORKS & SAFETY
Cracking new
solutions for egg
processing
Needing a reliable supplier of high quality products, Kletec, a global manufacturer of
automated egg processing machines, turned to Lenze
F
ormed in 2009, Wim Kleijer’s company Kletec quickly grew into a global manufacturer of
solutions for the automated processing of eggs, both for consumption and for hatcheries. However, with different demands from different parts of the world, the company needed a brand that could deliver a complete range of technologies that would be suitable when building machines featuring modular processes. The company’s aim is to standardise quality, as
Kleijer explains: “We use high-quality techniques with which we come up with smart solutions – and develop them further and further. However, the aim is always to move towards serial production, so we look for high-quality products at competitive prices. We also want to guarantee service and support, so it is nice if your supplier is also a reliable one.” Then, in 2011, the company was building a
palletising robot capable of placing thirty trays on a pallet, with a total of seven hundred and twenty eggs in one go. Having already built up a lot of experience with drives and controls from Lenze, Kletec once again turned to the company – not only due to the exceptional quality of its products, but also because the
company has a total concept for the control.
PALLETISING Kletec’s most recent machine can stack cardboard boxes with eggs in different patterns up to a height of 2.5m. This machine needs to move more than a thousand a day, each weighing twenty-five kilos. “Our customer really wanted to automate that, because it is heavy work, and it was all done manually. We developed the first palletising robot further and now we have a four-axis robot in which the rotating head can rotate and stack in a pattern that ensures the sturdiness of the pallet,” explained Kleijer. In operation, two boxes are picked up at the
same time, with the orientation of the boxes an important issue as the labels must always be read from the outside of the pallet. To achieve this, the company specified linear guides and a belt drive – this is a simple technology, with high reliability, which also allows long distances to be covered at high speed. Furthermore, motion modules were used to position the cartons of eggs quickly and with as little additional movement as possible. An additional advantage is that the belt drive in combination with ball chain rails ensures quiet operation.
SPECIFYING THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY Several years ago, Kleijer and his team decided to opt for the 120Hz technology. “We use controllers from the 8400 and i500 series. The 120Hz technique offers us enormous possibilities and a great deal of accuracy. You get much more torque from a cabinet over a wide speed range. In addition, we are very flexible with the B500 series of gearboxes. We use the P300 for the control. In fact, you could say that when it comes to pure drive technology, we use Lenze. “We really use the P300 panel to
perfection, I think we do things with it that Lenze doesn’t even know it can do!” Praising Lenze’s knowledge, he
added: “We have agreed a timetable with Lenze for the future, so that we
12 JUNE 2021 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
can always keep up with the latest technology. Happy with innovations, Kleijer said: “It is
our goal to deliver 80% standard and 20% customer-oriented, and in doing so we are constantly innovating. Because we work in modules, we can continuously optimise individual components – so innovations grow into a new standard. In addition, we must always be able to connect to the customer’s standard components; and everything has to communicate with each other. That is also an important advantage: we do not work with a do-it-yourself supplier but with the manufacturer itself, because it’s nice to have everything in one hand. Lenze has shown itself to be a strong partner, not only in service, but also in the range of products. You can look at the total offer as a kind of platform where the drive and control are attuned to each other and everything can talk to each other.”
WORKING TOGETHER Cooperation between people is also a benefit for Kleijer. “It is very nice to have people with a high level of knowledge thinking along with you during development. We get very accessible and fast support, and the engineers talk to the engineers. The drives in particular have a consistently high quality and the price/quality ratio is just right.” The companies are now working together on
innovative developments for the future. Kleijer said: “We are working on some nice
things. We want to do more in the food sector. For that we need to take a step forward on the hygiene side. We want to see what the drive can do in that respect. Hygiene is also an important step for machines for the hatchery. “In addition, we have already gone a long way
with the remote monitoring of the installations. At the moment, we have 120 machines online that we can monitor. We log messages for preventive maintenance, for example, and can carry out software updates and help with settings remotely. But it is also very pleasant that we can now watch the installations directly without having to be on site.”
Lenze
www.lenze.com/en-gb / DESIGNSOLUTIONS
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