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Automated case packing handles 450 bags/min at Pepperidge Farm

Pepperidge Farm expands its Goldfish cracker packaging capabilities, adding robotic case packing of cases, trays, and retail ready displays.

Six delta-style robots fill a range of corrugated case sizes with single-serve bags of Goldfish crackers.
Six delta-style robots fill a range of corrugated case sizes with single-serve bags of Goldfish crackers.

Norwalk, CT-based Pepperidge Farm, Inc., part of Campbell Soup Company, is known for its premium-quality, fresh bakery and snack products, including its popular Goldfish crackers and Milano cookies, more than 50 varieties of fresh baked breads, layer cakes, garlic bread, and many other products. According to Statistica, the company’s Goldfish product is the third largest cracker brand in the U.S., with projected sales of $479.9 million in 2016.

In 2013, Pepperidge Farm broke ground on a $93 million expansion of its Willard, OH, plant that added 227,000 sq ft and additional production capacity to the facility. “The expansion was done to provide enough space to install two new high-speed Goldfish lines to support our demand for single-serve and retail-ready packaging,” explains Pepperidge Farm Vice President, Supply Chain Bill Livingstone.

Having had success working with Fallas Automation on automated systems to case-pack single-serve pouches of Goldfish crackers into bulk cases and retail trays in the past, Pepperidge Farm turned to the supplier to develop similar systems for its new lines. The largest and most versatile system, installed in 2014, comprises a case erector, a tray former, and six vision-guided robots for case and tray loading.

For this line, single-serve pillow-pack bags in sizes from 0.4 to 2.5 oz are produced on three Ilapak baggers after which they are carried on three bag take-away conveyors—these are equipped with bag flipping and double-bag reject capabilities—that lead to the main product conveyor within the case/tray-loading cell. The cell, surrounded by a specially designed frame, features six ABB vision-guided IRB 360 FlexPicker delta-style robots that pick product from the main conveyor and place them either into bulk corrugated cases on one side or chipboard trays on the other at 450 bags/min.

Videos from Fallas Automation Inc.
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