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Partners in Packaging Ltd 7 Southgate Industrial Park Green Lane, Heywood OL10 1ND, United Kingdom
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Speedy chocolate bars
A specialist German confectioner, handling high quality long Praline bars has successfully installed a robotics solution from German top load and cartoning machine specialist, Vepatec. The challenge was to supply a bespoke system, with a well proven compact footprint, combined with a simple robotics solution, to fit into the tight space available. The system was also designed for maximum flexibility and quick repeatable operator size changes.
Fed from an up-steam flow wrap machine, the bars which are 190mm long x 15 x 15mm arrive at a Vepatec “SpeedTrac” race track system at speeds of 270/min and are grouped into layers of 4 bars. A Unigrabber equipped with 4 pick-up heads, each picking and placing a layer of 4 bars, takes the bars from the SpeedTrac and loads them into a top load carton which is erected by a Vepatec 190S top load carton erector.
The line comes with change parts for a number of pack sizes including an 11 x 1 pack of 100 gm bars packed at 100/min. Changeovers between pack sizes can be performed quickly and efficiently by operators within 5 minutes.
The system is equipped with a PROFIBUS linked Siemens control system and has significantly reduced the amount of labour employed packing the bars. Further labour savings have also been obtained by changing to a machine erect, die cut carton from the previously manually erected crash lock base carton. |