A robot to serve ice cream
To renew a packaging line of products for the world of ice cream, Poloplast has chosen a fully automatic solution based on Omron’s Sysmac platform, where the handling operations are driven by a Delta robot capable of processing 80 pieces per minute. R.C.
The value of automation is now recognized in almost all manufacturing sectors, even those historically associated with concepts such as tradition and craftsmanship. In the world of ice cream, for example, more and more concerns are resorting to automatic or semi-automatic machines to increase the efficiency and repeatability of processes.
Poloplast, the brand specializing in the manufacture of plastic articles for the world of ice cream, patisserie products and catering, is fully part of the innovators in this sector: inside the Santo Stino di Livenza works, the Treviso based company has created a true technology center for the manufacture of beakers, spoons, trays, containers, cups, straws, and other accessories for ice cream consumption. With a particular mission: offer all the small and large companies operating in the confectionery industry a full range of disposable or reusable products that are durable, easy to use and possibly competitively priced. A goal achieved by the use of automated machinery capable of speeding things up, guaranteeing quality and consistency of performance in all stages of production.
80 packs per minute thanks to pick&place
The latest achievement under the Poloplast brand is an automatic packaging machine for packaging small plastic components for ice cream parlours. The solution, born from a project developed together with Cester Automation, has been designed from the outset to reduce unskilled manual labour. A choice - the heads of the company underline - dictated by cost rationalization objectives but also and above all by the desire to improve staff working conditions. «A certain kind of manual work is repetitive, one should say alienating - explains Christian Poser, General Manager of Poloplast - something that is better done by machines».
Hence the decision to automate the process using a Delta Omron robot and an automation system based on the Sysmac platform. Specifically, the machine replaces the manual work of six employees on three shifts, packing as many as 80 products per minute according to predefined quality standards. The pieces are brought to the belt via a hopper, leveled by means of a roller, and then analyzed one-by-one using an Omron FH vision system, which among other things assesses the orientation and the integrity of the items. The “chosen” components are then picked up by the robot and placed on a horizontal packaging machine, where they are sealed in individual pouches; those in excess remain on the belt and return in a circle ready to be picked up in the subsequent cycles.
The benefits of an integrated ecosystem
For a range of action, speed in relaying and weighing the components to be handled, the Robot Omron Delta represents the best possible option among all those taken into consideration in the design phase. «With lightweight plastic units such as those produced by Poloplast, a pick&place like Omron’s is much better than any other solution, even the Scara» commented Rudy Cester, owner of Cester Automations.
The Omron NJ controller forms the keystone of the entire machine architecture: Here converge the signals from the fundamental Omron automation components and from the robot vision system, the analog and digital inputs/outputs to the G3 NX2 inverter and the NS.8 HMI. The integration between the various units is made possible by the presence of a Sysmac Studio platform, a development environment offering all configuration, programming, simulation and monitoring options from a single, intuitive and coherent user interface. Here the presence of ready-made function blocks enable the simplification the entire programming, especially those related to the robot management function, the combination of axes (3 for handling plus and one rotational) and the synchronization of the pick & place; the vision system offers the PLC a possible database on pick-up and the system handles operations automatically, continuously updating the database. «We needed a platform that would allow us to easily aggregate all the various components and the various specific functions» explains Rudy Cester.
«That is why we opted for the Sysmac Omron model, an open and comprehensive ecosystem that integrates new options, new features, new components at any time and with great ease. This has enabled us to develop the machine by degrees, making many changes on the fly, which otherwise would have been unachievable.
A single operator for all supervised activities
The machine management is entrusted to a single operator. From a single access point - an Omron NS 8 touchscreen - the section head is able to monitor the system and make changes to the main activities. Among the various resources accessed by the operator interface one has the partial and total count of production and formulas related to the type of product to be packed.
For each of these the key processing parameters, such as pick-up and put-down speed, timing and positioning can be set.
«Poloplast has all the versatility required to change product! - Cester goes on to say - Whenever an article is modified, the system automatically recalibrates, bringing all the machining data with it».
The machine is also already equipped for remote control functions: A router connected externally via Sysmac allows remote monitoring of all key automation functions, displaying any abnormalities and ready to take action on sensitive parameters.
Less than six months to achieve ROI
The building of a new automatic packaging machine was part of the investments planned by Poloplast to strengthen its leadership position in the ice cream sector. «If today we have the widest range of articles in the world in some specific categories of products for ice-creams, we owe this largely to the process of continuous innovation which has featured with us for some years now» Christian Poser strives to emphasize, adding: «Understanding the industrial process means anticipating developments, but at the same time predicting how certain innovations may be accepted by the consumer. Customers want new products, of ever better quality, possibly at a competitive price. Needs of this type can only be met by using the best available technology».
But the most important achievement is perhaps in the return on investment, which in the specific case of the new packaging came in less than six months. «For those who come from a completely manual approach, a solution of this type pays for itself very quickly. In the light of the results achieved we believe that in the future we can replicate the same Omron and Sysmac platform automation solution on other product lines».
Roberto Catania
Giornalista e divulgatore tecnologico
