NEW EVENT! Cutting-edge Trends for Every Industry at PACK EXPO Southeast
Discover packaging & processing solutions for all industries at the all-new PACK EXPO Southeast in Atlanta, GA, March 10-12, 2025
LAST CHANCE! Register ASAP for $30

Report: Innovative new robotics at PACK EXPO

Covering 1.2 million net sq ft of exhibit space and drawing 2,500 exhibitors, PACK EXPO International brought 50,000 attendees to the biggest packaging event of the year. Here is our report on new robotics.

PACK EXPO International
PACK EXPO International

Each year the editors at PMMI Media Group roam the aisles of PACK EXPO looking for the next big thing in the packaging sector. Of course, with a show this size it’s never one big thing we find but rather a multitude of things big, medium, and small, all of them innovative and meaningful in one way or another to packaging professionals of today.

This report sums up what we found in six main categories. We present them here for your review knowing full well that, inevitably, we missed a few. Probably more than a few. That’s where you come in. Let us know what we missed and we’ll look into it. Or at the very least, we’ll know to be on the lookout for it at the next PACK EXPO.

Our report comes to you from the following:

Matt Reynolds, Editor, Packaging World

Pat Reynolds, VP Editor Emeritus, Packaging World

Anne Marie Mohan, Senior Editor, Packaging World; Editor, Contract Packaging

Stephanie Neal, Senior Editor, Automation World; Editor-in-Chief, OEM

Joyce Fassl, Editor-in-Chief, ProFood World

Maya Norris, Managing Editor, ProFood World

Natalie Craig, Managing Editor, OEM

Jim Butschli, Editor, Healthcare Packaging

Keren Sookne, Director of Editorial Content, Healthcare Packaging

ROBOTICS

If PACK EXPO is any indicator, collaborative robots, or cobots, are increasing their impact on packaging systems. It used to be that robots on the show floor had to be given a wide berth. It’s still a little surprising to see these cobots free of any enclosure, where attendees are free to interact with them. Ongoing shortages in skilled labor maintain the drumbeat toward not only automation, but automation designed to work seamlessly with existing operators. It’s more than a little ironic that just as cobots seem to be reaching an adoption threshold, we’re saying goodbye to the now-shuttered Rethink Robotics and its Baxter, the cobot that gave this segment such a boost in the early days.

Piab used PACK EXPO to introduce its piCOBOT (1) end-of-arm (EOAT) vacuum tool designed specifically for the cobot market. The piCOBOT offers Universal Robotics’ certified plug-and-play extensions to the latest collaborative robots.

“piCOBOT® weighs only 18 oz and the gripper only adds another 7.40 oz. This provides maximum payload capacity for the cobot,” says Josef Karbassi, Vice President of Piab’s Automation Division. “Strong for its size, piCOBOT is able to lift objects weighing up to 15.5 lb. We have selected features that enable energy-optimized and safe operation to make piCOBOT a genuinely flexible and user-friendly cobot end-of-arm-tool.”

Offered as a development kit, piCOBOT® comprises a vacuum pump unit, a gripper unit, and two suction cups. The standard kit includes four different sets of suction cup models suitable for a variety of tasks, but customers can also choose freely from the company’s range of suction cups for more tailored solutions.

TRAY SEALING
SencorpWhite’s CeraTek line of medical device tray sealers, also displayed at PACK EXPO, integrate with a Universal Robots collaborative robot. Beyond demonstrating the collaborative potential of robots like the UR model, the tray sealer itself is 100% validatable and calibratable. The MD Series sealers include standard features such as PLC control system with touch-screen HMI; short cycle indicator; high/low temperature alarm; high/low pressure alarm; resettable cycle counter; external output ports (temperature, pressure, and dwell time) for process control verification and calibration; and key switch lockout features to limit access to the set-up screens. The units are ISO 11607 compliant and CE compliant. Sample IQ/OQ protocol documents are available with standard models.

SIX-AXIS COBOT
Also highlighted at PACK EXPO was the FANUC CR-15iA collaborative robot. The lean green machine is capable of lifting 15 kg, filling the gap between FANUC’s smaller CR-4iA and CR-7iA siblings and larger big brother, the CR-35iA.

The six-axis robot is a good fit for warehouse, shipping, and other industrial applications that require handling, machine tending, inspection, and logistics. It is also efficient, including a single highly-sensitive sensor in its base vs. multiple external sensors that are often the norm with other cobots, the company said.

The CR-15iA has a small footprint that has a maximum vertical reach of 2.413 mm and a horizontal extension of 1.441 mm. The design makes it ideal for being mounted upright or inversely on the wall, as no safety fences are required since it stops safely on contact with a human operator.

It also includes a FANUC Teach Pendant that enables easy programming coupled with the R-30iB Plus controller’s new iHMI interface. Plus, an optional FANUC Hand Guidance system means any user can program the robot simply by leading it through the motion points or trajectory necessary to complete the task and recording the path.

Among the first packaging machinery OEMs to integrate this new FANUC cobot is Gebo Cermex, which used PACK EXPO to unveil its CoboAccess_Pal M(edium). A mobile palletizer (2), it has two modes of operation, medium speed in a purely cobotic mode and high speed in robotic mode. A dual-station palletizer and depalletizer, the CoboAccess_Pal M is a robust, industrial cobotic palletizer with a payload of up to 15 kg. Using FANUC PalletPRO software, CoboAccess_Pal M only needs inputs of the cases’ dimensions and the pallet’s size to achieve any desired pallet configuration. The system also includes a pallet detection system and a 15-in. HMI.

NEW ALLIANCE
In an effort to expand its offerings in innovative automation, Omron robot is the result of an alliance between Omron and Techman Robot Inc., in which Omron will globally market and sell the robot through Omron’s worldwide distribution network. The co-branded cobot (3) was on display at PACK EXPO International, where the company was highlighting key products that support Omron’s vision of the factory of the future, including autonomous, self-navigating vehicles for fast-paced environments and a traceability demo that uses its barcode reading, verification, machine vision, and data connectivity products to minimize the impact of recalls and maximize productivity by providing real-time data on all supplier materials, machinery, operators, and processes involved in production.

New e-book on Flexible Packaging
In this e-book, you’ll learn key considerations for vertical and horizontal f/f/s and how to choose between premade bags and an f/f/s system. Plus, discover the pitfalls to avoid on bagging machinery projects.
download
New e-book on Flexible Packaging
INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for All Industries at PACK EXPO Southeast
The exciting new PACK EXPO Southeast 2025 unites all vertical markets in one dynamic hub, generating more innovative answers to your production challenges. Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity for your business!
REGISTER FOR $30!
INTRODUCING! The Latest Trends for All Industries at PACK EXPO Southeast