BARCOdING, LABELLING & PACkAGING


meat packs, which can’t be handled at very high speeds as the film lid may tear. With this approach, the producer’s 60-70 ppm speed target could comfortably be achieved. Brillopak presented this solution to the


customer, who liked what they saw. “The uniPAker system looks simplistic but is


actually intelligent and clever inside. It is very user-friendly, which is important, given that most of our staff do not have English as a first language. It was affordable and we were shown that it could pack our product before we had it delivered,” were the factory operations manager’s comments. He says that in particular, he likes the way a


single operator can both place crates into the system and palletise because the crates enter and exit the system from the same location, adding, “Ergonomics are a very important part of optimising packing lines”. Training is also a key part of any automation


project, and Brillopak was willing to spend as much time as was needed to explain and demonstrate the system to factory floor staff. As the company’s factory operations


manager puts it: “In automation, you can’t just press a button. Brillopak made our staff aware of what they needed to watch out for and how to monitor the machine and we have no real issues. Our trainer, Goku, stayed to make sure it worked and gave us the attention we needed to master the machine.” One of Brillopak’s strengths is that it does not


view installation as the end of a project, and pledges to work with customers after delivery to ensure their system is operating as expected. This promise was put to the test in the


current project when, a few weeks after installation, the customer was having issues with the robot dropping trays. Brillopak’s engineers were quick to get to


the root of the problem: pack height variations between batches. Subtle temperature changes were causing the pack contents to either expand or contract, resulting in pack height variations of up to 4-5mm either way. These variations were hindering the robot’s ability to draw a vacuum, causing it to drop the pack (if the pack was lower than usual) or crush the pack (if the pack was higher than usual). Brillopak came to the rescue with a feature that allows the operator to manually adjust the position at which the vacuum is turned on. Six months have passed since the uniPAker


was installed and the producer is delighted with the results. “The main goal was to improve process. We


have two shift patterns, day and night, with four on and four off. The ability to save that labour on what are highly repetitive tasks provided a fast return on investment,” says the operations manager. He adds: “Brillopak are efficient, they did


what they said they would do, they addressed the early issues quickly and they were pro- active and helpful throughout the process. They have clever machines and they support us.”


Brillopak www.brillopak.co.uk


CERuLEAN OPTS FOR A SyNCHRONISEd OMRON CONTROL SySTEM FOR ITS PACkAGING LINE SOLuTION


C


erulean, part of the Coesia Group, has opted for a complete solution from Omron for the control system of its


packaging solutions. This has also prepared the company for the development of Industry 4.0 capabilities in the future. Cerulean has been supplying precision test


and measurement equipment solutions to the tobacco, oral hygiene, healthcare and cosmetics industries for over 70 years. Its clients include leading organisations such as Colgate, Albea and Essel. The solutions it has developed include the design and manufacture of specialist equipment for packing empty, squeezable tubes into cartons.


Seeking a powerful Solution to a complex iSSue The company invests a significant proportion of its revenue on in-house research and product development. The move from its incumbent supplier to Omron originated from the need for a more controllable, scalable and flexible solution that would enable equipment to be integrated smoothly into the production line. This included integration into complex lines in which both upstream and downstream equipment needed to work in synchronisation. One particularly important aspect of this was the need to comply with safety and start-up procedures and emergency stop scenarios. With the company’s existing set-up, a stop on the more complex production lines meant that there had to be a manual restart in order to comply with safety standards. This was both time- consuming and inefficient. Shaun Toms, Cerulean’s portfolio manager,


explains: “We were looking for a precision skill set that would be able to take our proven machine design into Industry 4.0 and would enable us to set up new machines and gather data simply and efficiently. We were looking for a


solution that would be versatile, cost-effective, future-proof and scalable. Omron was able to meet all of these criteria.”


optimiSed Solution from omron for flexiBility and ScalaBility Omron provided both a hardware and software solution to Cerulean’s needs. This included its Sysmac programmable logic controller (PLC) NX1P2 PLC, designed to handle applications from small-scale equipment to entire production lines. The company also supplied its NB5Q human-machine interface (HMI), which provides faster, more efficient control and monitoring. Finally, Omron provided and R88A servo systems which optimise everything from the machine design, installation and commissioning right through to maintenance once the equipment is in production. The full Omron solution has given Cerulean


greater control of its production line, more flexibility and a scalable capability for the future. The servo systems provide a faster and smoother operation that is Industry 4.0 ready. Omron project manager, Paul Cusack


comments: “This project underlines Omron’s strengths as a complete solution provider. We were surprised by the complexity of the software that had been implemented but we worked closely with Cerulean to deliver a superb piece of code that would match the hardware capabilities. As part of our complete solution, we were also able to provide applications engineering support as well as other items such as robotics.” Toms adds: “Omron has provided us with


everything we were looking for and more. It has successfully delivered a versatile and future- proof new platform upon which we will be able to build our next-generation products.”


omron www.industrial.omron.co.uk


FACTORy&HANdLINGSOLuTIONS | MAy 2021 25


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