Flexpicker robots improve pancake production line

ABB's robotic technology has helped transform the production of pancakes at the Honeytop Speciality Food plant by the installation of four Flexpicker IRB 360 robots.

The solution, designed, built and installed by ABB's channel partner RG Luma, ensures the company can meet its own stringent requirements for the hygienic handling of food, as well as introducing reduced labour costs and improved health and safety levels at the 120,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

Honeytop Speciality Foods produces more than 100,000 artisanal breads an hour.

Recognising the need to improve productivity, the food specialist approached RG Luma - suppliers of industrial automation, special-purpose machines and robotic integration - with the requirement for new automated production lines to help improve hygienic conditions at the plant and increase flexibility for the production of pancakes.

William Eid, director for Honeytop Speciality Foods, said: 'When we first began talks with RG Luma regarding this production line, we had some reservations about the robots and whether they could help introduce the flexibility and reliability we needed.

'We work in an industry with very tight turnaround times.

'We receive daily orders that are expected to be out to the depots within 12 hours of production.

'We needed to improve productivity, hygienic standards and increase the speed of the production line to meet these industry demands, all while reducing downtime,' he added.

By working closely with RG Luma, Honeytop Speciality Foods outlined the range of products required for production.

The answer was to introduce flexibility, speed and quality with four Flexpicker robots, capable of handling 110 picks per minute to ensure all pancakes are picked and stacked quickly and precisely.

Forming part of a bigger solution for Honeytop Speciality Foods, the Flexpicker robots are connected, via conveyor belts, to a stand-alone, automated hot plate production line that produces large quantities of batter-based products, including American pancakes.

The conveyor belt operates in a waterfall pattern, helping reduce the pancakes to room temperature following cooking, before preparing them for stacking and packing.

All pancakes are manually checked before entering the robot enclosure where the pancakes are picked and stacked in piles (of selectable height dependant on product) onto one central outfeed conveyor.

The enclosure is spilt into four areas of operation, enabling the robots to operate in alternative areas to the preceding robot on the line.

The result is four ABB Flexpicker robots, evenly spaced out, each manning one section of the conveyor.

This load-sharing system comes complete with a buffer system, designed by RG Luma, to enable the robots to keep pancakes on the buffer shelf until a short stack is identified.

This buffer system also helps to reduce waste levels as the right stack of products is produced on the central outfeed conveyor.

Complementing the Flexpickers is ABB's Pickmaster 3.2 software and its IRC5 controller.

Pickmaster 3.2 software offers simplified programming, enabling users to model for applications and optimise multiple robot installations.

For Honeytop, the use of Pickmaster helps monitor progress on the line, including the total number of picks and can be used to quickly change production from one product to another.

RG Luma has also created a secondary control system to work alongside ABB Pickmaster 3.2 to vary the outfeed conveyor speed to prevent short stacks or overflows.

Integrated with the Pickmaster 3.2 software are four-gigabit Ethernet cameras.

These are mounted in front of each robot and used to locate each pancake's position on the conveyor.

The robots then track the pancake position and accurately pick it and place it onto the central conveyor.

RG Luma configured the vision software to recognise overlapping product and Flexpickers are able to pick a product overlapped on top of another one.

The final step of the production line requires the products to be checked again by manual operators before entering Honeytop's automated packing and labelling machine, provided by Fuji Machinery.

'This is our first investment in robotic automated technology and despite some apprehension, we have not experienced one issue since the installation more than six months ago,' said Eid.

'Turnaround time has been reduced between products and as a result we can meet our customer's tight deadlines without delay.

'The robots have already enabled us to absorb a number of overheads, thanks to low labour costs and improved productivity,' he added.

Each of Honeytop's final production lines feature four IRB 360 robots, ABB's Pickmaster 3.2 software and four IRC5 controllers.

The built-in versatility of the production line has cut the changeover time between products, making it easier for Honeytop to meet its deadlines with high quality products every time.

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