In 2015, industrial robots had a good year—the best ever, in fact. According to the Robotic Industries Association, last year robot orders in North America set new records, with a total of 31,464 robots valued at $1.8 billion ordered from North American companies—an increase of 14% in units and 11% in dollars over 2014. Shipments set new records as well, with 28,049 robots valued at $1.6 billion shipped to North American customers, growing 10% in units and 9% in dollars over the previous records set in 2014.
While this includes all industry sectors, packaging was certainly part of this trend. In Part I of Packaging World’s Special Report on Robotics & Automation, we explore four consumer packaged goods food companies and one logistics provider that contributed to these record numbers. In almost all cases, these companies made the switch from a manual process on their packaging line to robotic automation to address pain points such as inconsistent or insufficient line speed and ergonomics issues resulting from manual operations.
Part II of this Special Report, which will appear in the September issue of PW, will highlight additional examples of packagers that have successfully incorporated robotics into the packaging lines.
Following are the five case studies in Part I of our special report:
Robotic bow-tying system adds personal touch to chocolate boxes
Robotics solutions provider designs a system to wrap chocolate boxes with a ribbon and form a bow using a six-axis robot programmed to operate in a number of unusual angles.
Robots assemble, pack, and stack grocery retail displays at 40/hr
Italian company installs five robots to automate the building, filling, and stacking of box pallets and tray displays for retail grocery promotions.
Cobot fits meat processor’s floor space and budget requirements
Taking up less than two square feet and needing no guarding, a collaborative robot with a 20-lb payload capacity is the perfect solution to Nortura’s floor-space and budget challenges.
Robotic automation is the endgame for new cheese-packaging line
Barron County Cheese replaces manual thermoform loading with a robotics system on a new packaging line to ensure a consistent line speed.
Built-in redundancy keeps Clif Bar running smoothly
Two carton-packing lines at Clif Bar’s new Twin Falls, ID, bakery are equipped with robotic equipment that allows for speed, redundancy, and system flexibility.
