The CKF system aided the client’s drive for the improvement and automation of operations within its packing and distribution facility.
Branded pet food products within shelf-ready cardboard cartons are delivered to the automated cell on CKF modular belt conveyors. The system is designed to handle a number of product formats to meet the customer specification. An automatically-formatted collection of cartons is presented to the robot at the pick area, ready for placing into an outer case.Outer cases are delivered from a case erector, pre-conditioned and tracked in the robot place zone via variable-speed twin side drive belts, providing positional accuracy for the robot placement.
An ABB IRB2600 robot with custom vacuum tooling picks and places the cartons into the cardboard outer cases. The CKF team opted to use positional tracking to enable the case throughput to meet the clients’ specification. The robot cell has been designed to handle 25 cartons per minute.
The system is driven via the ABB IRC5 Controller, with the controller housed adjacent to the robot system. The robot cell is protected with a safety enclosure using a TROAX safety guard system. Operator access into the robot cell is gained through a Fortress interlocked access door.
The system was installed and commissioned by the CKF engineering team. The automated case packing system has provided the client with the opportunity to re-allocate staff from what has been a repetitive task and enabled improved operational efficiency.