A fulfillment company came to Emerald Automation to find a machine that would load bags of various products into standard RSC cases. Early discussions pointed us towards the Dash-DP Rotary Drop Packer; not because of it high speed capability but for its flexibility to handle various bags with varying weights and size of product without costly changeovers. As a FANUC Authorized Integrator, we offered a second solution to use a robot with a spatula as an end effector.

Accepting filled and sealed bags, we grabbed the completed bag and laid it down on a bag checkweigher infeed. The bag is then checked for proper weight and transferred onto an incline conveyor up to the robot tool. When the bag reaches the top of the conveyor, the bag is deposited onto the spatula tool. With the bag in place, the Robot moves, inserting the end arm and tool into the box, tilting the tool to leave the bag flat at one end of the case. On the next bag, the robot places the bag at the other end of the case, creating a 2 x 1 layer pattern. The process continues until the proper bag count is achieved. Depending on the order, they can load as little as 10 or up to 42 bags per case. Emerald sourced the RSC case former and top sealer from another manufacturer. As a side benefit, the lead time was about 6 weeks shorter than our rotary drop packer would have been by using a robot.

A producer of croissants and cinnamon rolls contacted MD Packaging, our representatives in Canada, regarding an integrated robotic packaging solution to accumulate composite cans and load them into Tray, HSC or RSC containers. MD was able to bring five of their principles together, under the guidance of Emerald Automation, to provide the complete line times two. The challenge was to provide two dough lines in one room.

We would accept the cans, after the labeler, into a vertical stacker to create the proper pack pattern. As a FANUC Authorized Integrator, we chose the M-10iA robot to meet our payload requirements. Since each pattern could be supplied in a tray, HSC or RSC we created a simple conveyor design to feed the load cell from either type former. With the cans loaded, they return back around and through a top sealer with pass through for trays and HSC's into a FANUC Robotic Palletizer from Flexicell. The robotic packaging solution features an Emerald Automation Robotic Case Packer, Case Formers from Pro Mach, Trayformer from Boix, Highlight Case Sealer and Conveyors by George A. Wright. The raw materials input and palletized finished goods use the same fork lift access. If you are looking for a simple, reliable system, give us a call at 509-783-1369 and let's talk about it.