Case study: robots help company get out of safety jam

Food company Hero manufactures a range of jams and preserves at its headquarters in Lenzburg, Switzerland.

Traditionally the jam was handloaded onto pallets by a number of the company’s employees, but this was deemed too labour-intensive and potentially hazardous.

Therefore, Hero looked to automate the process, installing three Fanuc M-710iC robots at the facility.

Local automation specialist Robotec was also called in to develop and test a closed cell which is designed to provide a fast, reliable and accident-proof alternative to manually stacking boxes of jam as they leave the assembly line.

Robotec also integrated its special gripping technology onto the Fanuc robots. “We chose a shovel shape with an integrated slide which pushes slightly against the boxes when setting them down on the pallet, whilst the gripper shovel retracts,” explains Robotec’s development engineer Daniel Bärtschi.

Seamless operation

In order to increase productivity the robots pick up two boxes simultaneously, turning towards the pallet and setting down the boxes within millimetre precision on the pallet according to the programmed stacking scheme. “It’s a seamless operation,” says Fanuc.

Once the pallets are loaded according to the specification, a signal is sent by the robot to the operator who opens the cell and uses a pallet truck to remove the full pallet and place an empty one in position.

The operative uses a handheld device located on the cell exterior to select the appropriate stacking programme. Each time the operative leaves the cell and the access door closes, this is relayed to the hand device whereby the next stacking programme is selected and palletising resumes.

To assist Hero’s workforce an intuitive control panel with fewer buttons was created, meaning operatives would not have to select or change programmes on the robots.

Robots help to eliminate workforce injuries, especially on tasks like palletising which are repetitive and arduous

John Rainer, regional sales manager at Fanuc UK 

In addition, universally-recognised colour codes – such as red for stop and green for start – were adopted and the control panel was modified to restrict key steps for instant pallet change.

Commenting on the role that automation plays in reducing human hazards and the subsequent risk of product damage, Fanuc UK regional sales manager John Rainer says: “Robots help to eliminate workforce injuries, especially on tasks like palletising which are repetitive and arduous.

“Equally, you need to keep operatives safe and there are all types of technologies and safety concepts that can be deployed within the working envelope when automating a task.

“In the case of this Hero jampalletising application, it’s a typical caged solution.

“However, there are a wide range of reliable, approved software-based safety systems, including Fanuc’s Dual Check Safety (DCS) system, that have the potential to optimise productivity by providing faster, easier access to the robot working area, reducing any potential downtime.”