Food & beverage
Amr fleets And mObile mAnipulAtOrs Optimise trAnspOrt tAsks Mobile robots can also take over the transport of goods and raw materials. Considering the fact that around 95 million working days per year are lost through injuries to employees moving around the factory or warehouse, modern solutions can greatly reduce the risk of accidents in this respect. autonomous Mobile robots (aMr) transport products directly and quickly to the exact place where they are needed for further processes and they dispose of waste or move finished packages. aMr fleets and Mobile Manipulators (Cobots plus mobile robots) also support quality control, traceability, order management, order fulfilment and warehousing.
prActicAl exAmple cOmbilO: AutOmAted pAckAging Of peppers oMroN supports the leading dutch fruit and vegetable wholesaler Combilo: a new packaging line with state-of-the-art robotic solutions has increased the productivity of this company by 30 percent. The new packaging line was designed by system integrator easypack Technologies and includes parallel robots and an oMroN vision system. one of the products marketed by Combilo is the popular “pepper trio”, a three-pack consisting of a red, a yellow and a green pepper. packing this trio was previously a slow and labour-intensive process, which is now more efficient thanks to the use of robots and an image processing system. at the same time, the error rate has also been reduced. Zero touch approaches and the technologies
were used to protect employees from potentially dangerous, repetitive and physically demanding tasks. at the same time, they minimised costs and provided the time to train employees so they can focus on value-added tasks.
increAse quAlity, prOtect brAnds, increAse sAles In addition to the employee and security- focused benefits, zero touch approaches help to make companies more competitive and future-proof, reducing recalls and protecting their brand. one of the biggest challenges today is to provide consumers with safe, sustainably sourced and healthy food. product quality and safety are subject to increasingly strict rules and regulations. Contamination and errors must be avoided.
This goes hand-in- hand with increasingly informed consumers who demand supplier and supply chain transparency. products must always be seamlessly traceable. The more often employees come into contact with a product during the manufacturing, packaging or labelling process, the more likely it is that recalls or returns will occur. Human workers can contaminate goods or make mistakes when applying labels or packaging. damaged packaging or non-compliant labels are among the most common reasons for product returns and complaints in the food industry, and are therefore high on the list of potential improvements. recalls jeopardising brand image and the loss of customers due to poor packaging or labels is a challenge that companies must face up to in order to be stronger in the future.
mOdern inspectiOn sOlutiOns detect dirt better thAn the humAn eye In order to avoid contamination and soiling, it therefore makes sense to move, sort or transport goods and raw materials mechanically and no longer manually. The same applies to the area of labelling and quality control, which can also be handled by automated systems, including vision and robotic solutions, so that the food comes into contact with employees as little as possible. In addition, innovative inspection systems can often detect unwanted dirt or other tiny particles on products or in containers much more precisely and better than employees can with the naked eye. These high-performance inspection systems provide support with images in the highest resolution and transfer them at a rapid rate. at the same time, a single controller can take over various tasks at different locations and at different times, which is not possible for human employees.
smArt cAmerAs And integrAted technOlOgies AgAinst biOlOgicAl cOntAminAtiOn another risk is biological contamination – for example, salmonella, pathogens or toxins. Here, it is important to avoid direct contact with the product and instead rely on robotics to do the dirty job. In mass production lines, this can be achieved with high-speed industrial robots, integrated automation systems and high-performance inspection systems. advanced machine control enables reliable integrated robot safety and motion verification. In specialised lines, once again cobots
equipped with smart cameras, combining quality control, code and character reading in a single step, ensure that pick-and-place tasks are performed with the lowest human intervention possible. The direct connection between camera and machine controller reduces setup time. aI- based automated and scalable quality control solutions ensure increased accuracy and timely detection as errors are no longer overlooked or over-detected, two common issues when humans perform these types of tasks.
prActicAl exAmple: AutOmAtic quAlity cOntrOl during fish filleting oMroN supports the fish processing plant Seafood parlevliet with modern automation technology. The automated assembly line comprises various oMroN solutions, including frequency controllers, servo drives, feeding solutions, safety blocks and the "brain" of the machine in the control cabinet. In addition, oMroN’s UaS vision system and cameras have been implemented together with lighting and customised vision software to perform several visual inspections during the process. The inspection ensures that the appearance of the fillets meets the company's highest quality standards, so that there are no traces of blood and that the skin and fins of the fish consistently meet customer requirements. Seafood parlevliet benefits from significant annual savings and up to five times faster processes.
cOnclusiOn: ZerO tOuch strAtegy strengthens sustAinAbility, sAfety And prOductivity The current study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovations research ISI “50 trends influencing europe's food sector by 2035“ concludes that artificial intelligence (aI) and machine learning (ML) will significantly influence the food production of the future. according to experts, new technologies could improve the quality and freshness of food and reduce waste considerably. The zero touch approach follows a similar thrust, as it is also about smarter and more sustainable use of important resources, aI and ML are also coming into play. on the one hand, such a strategy supports employees and teams. at the same time, the zero touch model can also help to optimise products, brand image and ultimately, consumer experience.
OmrOn
industrial.omron.eu/
FaCTorY&HaNdLINgSoLUTIoNS | aprIL 2021 9
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