Robotic solution for mixed product pick

A demonstration cell was on show at PPMA, swapping pots between cardboard trays and featuring FANUC’s fenceless DCS safety technology.

The robotic pick and place unit combines FANUC’s LR Mate200iD robot with Pacepacker’s new Mixed Tray Loader (MTL) technology, providing a flexible and compact solution for generating the assorted trays of product that are increasingly being requested by retailers.

"The trend towards pallets of mixed products, driven by retailers requiring smaller, more frequent deliveries, is now being extended to case level. Mixed trays or cases allow supermarkets to offer a broader choice of product sizes, flavours and variants and to keep their shelves replenished without having to hold a lot of stock. Equally, convenience and inner-city stores are finding that mixed cases or trays allow them to offer a far wider product range on restricted shelf space,” says John Rainer, regional sales manager from FANUC UK, explaining the rationale for the launch of the robotic product swap unit.

The unit is based on Pacepacker’s MTL technology. Until now, the MTL has only been supplied in conjunction with a cartesian pick and place system. The development of a robotic mixed tray loader will give potential users greater flexibility.

The LR Mate200iD has a six-axis articulated arm can tilt, twist and rotate single or multiple products with ease at speeds of up to 80 packs per minute. Another feature that made the LR Mate200iD particularly suitable for integration with the MTL was its diminutive dimensions; the ‘mini’ robot arm is human arm sized and weighs 25kg. When supplied with FANUC’s DCS safety software, which is demonstrated combined with Rockwell’s laser scanner technology to produce a small-footprint solution offering very flexible configuration to suit what might be limited factory floor space, with the added benefit of portability if required.