Forbes Chocolate Corporation uses palletizing robots instead of manual palletizing for multi-layer bags, eliminating production bottlenecks.
The Forbes Chocolate Company in Cleveland, United States, has more than 100 years of history. Its current factory has a history of 15 years. As a supplier of ingredients to food processors, its business is constantly expanding, which makes its factory space appear insufficient. So when corporate management seeks to move from manual pallets to automatic palletizers, they can only make choices based on the factory floor space.
“Space is obviously very important,†said Keith Geringer, vice president of Forbes. “The space available for us is only for palletizing robots. A robot is the most suitable choice.â€
In recent years, the company’s representatives have already investigated the situation of palletizing robots by participating in some food processing exhibitions, so the company also contacted several other suppliers before selecting the products of Fanuc Robotics. The last selected equipment of Fanuc Robotics was installed at the end of last year. The entire system includes the M-410iB robot, the feeder conveyor, the pallet stacker, the bag handling equipment, and the iPendant operator panel.
Forbes' goals include two aspects: one is to increase production efficiency by eliminating the bottleneck of the manual palletizing; the other is to free employees from monotonous and heavy work. The bags used by the company range in weight from 16 pounds to 60 pounds, and come in four different sizes and styles, so palletizers and bag processing tools must be able to accommodate different sizes.
More importantly, for the purpose of facilitating accounting and accounting purposes, Forbes hopes to install it by the end of 2003. “When we contacted Fanuc, we explained the timing in the company,†Geringer recalls. “Then they sent an engineer to our factory and made some measurements. They gave us in early October last year. A proposal. After we approved it, they immediately started manufacturing the automatic palletizing system. We also provided sample bags for their testing.â€
The Forbes representative who participated in the test machine thought that his factory staff could install the equipment. But when they saw the device, they decided to ask Fanuc to install it, and the factory staff assisted them. “Then Fanuc started the installation work, and Forbes's employees worked closely. During the installation process, Fanuc explained everything we needed to know,†Geringer said. “Actually, no one in the factory has ever received it. Formal training. Only factory managers may receive some advanced training this winter."
"The operation of this system is so easy, even I can do it." Geringer joked.
Claim
Bags come in different sizes, and there are two different sizes of pallets, which makes the design of palletizers more complicated, said Fanve's sales representative Steve LaMarre. For example, a pneumatic cylinder for pushing an empty tray to a loading position is designed to contact only the wooden tray. This is because when the operator prepares the tray, a corrugated tray is set on the wooden tray. The edge of this corrugated paper tray is 6 inches high, so if the air cylinder touches it, it will cause damage. The pallets used in the factory range from standard GMA trays from department store manufacturers to slightly smaller European standard trays.
This robot is a high-speed four-axis robot designed specifically for palletizing. It has three sizes, the lightest is 160 kg. But LaMarre said this is enough to meet Forbes' needs. The parts used to handle the bags have adjustable hook teeth, but LaMarre says Forbes' bags are not very different in size, so no adjustment is required.
“What contributed to our contract with Forbes?†LaMarre said: “This is because we have another customer in this area that also uses the same bags as Forbes, and their recommendations for our equipment and services help us Got this contract."
How the system works
In Forbes's operations, the operator of palletizing robots simply uses the iPendant operator panel to set the size of the bag and the product contained within, and select the desired palletizing mode. In addition, LaMarre said that there are some control functions at the front of the console to activate a production cycle, but iPendant is the basic control system.
On Forbes packaging lines, the bags go through a bag press before passing through a metal detector. Before entering the automatic palletizing unit, the bag goes through a company provided by Loveshaw. Labeling machine, the labeling machine is affixed with a product identification label on the package, which distinguishes each package by adding item numbers, product names, usage rates and composition instructions, Geringer said. Sometimes the bar code is printed on the label of the bag. The labeled package is sent from the conveyor belt to the loading unit of the palletizer. It is actually a roller conveyor.
The length of the feeder conveyor is very short, so Fanuc does not have to worry too much about the transmission parameters. Since it can only accommodate a few bags, these bags do not deform. When the bag reaches the picking position, the sensor notifies the palletizing robot to work. The roller spacing and side rails on the conveyor ensure smooth transfer while making the robot pick-up head easy to work on.
Before this operation, the operator has prepared an empty pallet with a corrugated pallet, and then the system sends the pallet to the correct loading position. Then, the robot's operating head picks up the bag and sends it. Go to the appropriate position on the pallet and repeat this process until the pallet is full. The robot's operation head performs three actions: the first two actions are to keep the bag flat and hold the bag, and the third action is to prevent the bag from moving during transportation.
Then, the console begins to send the loaded pallets from the automatic palletizing unit to the pick-up location, which is transported by the forklift.
Advanced design
Through samples of bags provided by Forbes, Fanuc can develop two parts of software for manipulating palletizing systems. The first part is installed on a separate computer called Pallet Pro. This three-dimensional software is actually a simulation software package that can set the entire operation flow through icons, including how the system operates and how to palletize on pallets.
The second part is the software called Pallet Tool, which is used by the robot console. This console can be used to correct and control the functions of the iPendant panel. According to the information included in Pallet Pro, Pallet Tool can generate specific robotic actions. In addition, Fanuc added additional commands for the specific application of Forbes.
There is also a quick transition key that can be used when Forbes needs to add new positions or change sensors. This also allows Forbes to add any new palletization mode, as new customers sometimes require new palletization modes.
In addition, the palletizing software must also take into account the U.S. and European pallet sizes, because 90% of the cocoa that we import is made from European pallets, and we need to continue to use them for export products, Geringer said. Not only are these European pallets smaller than American GMA pallets, their chutes are also different, so palletizers must operate them in different ways.
After palletizing, the existing equipment is used for stretch-packaging, that is, covering the packaged goods with plastic film.
Forbes company returns
Forbes's benefit is increased production. Even if our output does not increase very much, our current productivity is greatly improved compared with the previous use of labor, Geringer said, and there is room for further growth because our current production speed is far from the stacker. The maximum performance of 25 bags/minute is still far behind. The palletization is no longer a bottleneck, and the current production speed is mainly limited by the bagging process.
In addition, Forbes' palletizing heights can sometimes be as high as 7 feet. In the past, when we carried out an artificial stacking, the height that a worker could throw a bag weighing 60 pounds was limited. Geringer said that we can now pile up higher, so that we can save the use of pallets. What's more, we also save on shipping costs because most of our transportation is based on the number of pallets, regardless of whether the weight of the pallet is 500 pounds or 2500 pounds. In this way we can also save customers some money.
He also added that now the coded goods are more consistent and consistent, and of course Geringer has not received feedback from customers. No complaints are praises, he said. In addition, he also added that the damage rate of the goods has also been reduced, but he did not want to disclose specific data.
With this set of equipment, former workers responsible for palletizing are now happier. We did not dismiss a worker because of the addition of this equipment, but we ensured that they worked more efficiently, Geringer said. In the past, we had to allow the palletizing workers to work in rotation, because this work was really boring. This is why our workers gave great enthusiasm to the equipment. I can tell you that the cost of a worker's back injury is greater than the cost of a palletizer. At the same time, the new palletizer is also a bright spot for customers visiting the Forbes factory.
In addition, this equipment also enabled Forbes to renew its passion for adopting new equipment. A few years ago, some new equipment gave us a bad impression, so we did not dare to adopt new equipment. Geringer said that for this project, Fanuc employees work hard and their service is very good.