Abar uses robot to load shelf ready packaging

Shelf ready food packaging typically refers to big cardboard boxes that can be deposited on supermarket shelves and opened at one end to allow consumers to pick out products. These boxes can contain all sorts of food products from cold meats and fish to crisps and confectionery.

Dutch based Abar has developed the LR-80TCR loading system for shelf ready food packaging in response to demand for greater flexibility and upgradability.

Need for flexibility ​

Sales director Brian Hill told FoodProductionDaily.com that the industry was looking for a system that could adapt to cope with different box sizes and shapes.

Hill added that there had been a shift to cardboard boxes in recent years, but in case there is a resurgence in plastic returnable supermarket crates, there is demand for a system that is flexible enough to adapt.

The Abar representative said a robotic system is well suited to meet the flexibility requirement. “This is a key reason for using a robot. It is very flexible and can be programmed to pick up and load into different locations.”​

Abar used a Fanuc Robotics M10-iA robot in its new loading system. Abar has worked with Fanuc for over ten years using its robots in its machinery systems for the food industry.

Hill said that in addition to flexibility, robots offer better reliability and need little maintenance compared to conventional machinery. But he said a fairly long production day is a prerequisite to make a robotic system economical. The M10-iA from Fanuc, for example, is capable of undergoing a 24 x7 duty cycle.