The Kuka robot 'KR Agilus' stands in the visitor aisle at Zotter in Riegersburg and dispenses chocolates as requested.

© Kuka

The Zotter-Schokoladen Manufaktur experience attracts over 270,000 visitors every year. Since March 2019, this chocolate world in Bergl near Riegersburg, Austria, has had one more attraction: a chocolate and praline robot from Kuka delights young and old alike and serves guests chocolate and pralines to their personal taste.

"The fun factor was the main focus for us," says Managing Director Josef Zotter. "We wanted to make state-of-the-art robotics accessible to everyone." But two Kuka robots have also been working behind the scenes in production since 2017, processing the chocolate into pralines and bars and handling the temperature-sensitive raw mass.

In production, the two 'KR Agilus' robots take care of forming the liquid chocolate into the appropriate shape, while the third 'KR Agilus' in the visitor aisle supplies guests with the finished chocolate products. Chocolate lovers can use a touch panel to choose their favorites from the various chocolates and bars.

Traditional craftsmanship merges with robotics

From saffron and pistachios to pink coconut and fish gum: Zotter-Schokoladen-Manufaktur, which was founded in 1987, now has over 500 types of chocolate in its range as well as a site in Shanghai and another in the USA and employs more than 200 people: the 'KR Agilus' robots were specially developed for precise and extremely accurate work processes in the low payload range - precisely the properties that are required when handling chocolate. Traditional craftsmanship was to be merged with state-of-the-art robotics. The particular challenge here: handling the delicate raw mass, which reacts sensitively to any temperature fluctuations.

Two Kuka robots work in production at Zotter Schokoladen-Manufaktur.

© Kuka

The robot picks up the appropriate mold, moves to the depositing system and fills it with liquid chocolate. It then swivels the mold with extreme precision so that the chocolate is evenly distributed inside and then places it in the refrigerator. This is where the second robot takes over, removing the chilled product from the refrigerator and transporting it to the output conveyor.
The third robot in the Zotter team takes care of the guests' physical well-being in the visitors' aisle: they select their favorite chocolates via a touch panel. The robot picks them up using a suction cup, provides a little entertainment with small rhythmic movements and then serves the praline via a dispenser.

Josef Zotter will continue to rely on traditional manual work in the future, but would like to expand its possibilities by using robots. The reason for this step is not that he is striving for greater efficiency or wants to cut jobs - on the contrary: since integrating the robots, Zotter has even taken on new employees. The decision in favor of the robot lies in the precision that cannot be achieved manually. "The KR Agilus works precisely in the hundredths of a millimeter range. This guarantees consistently high quality, even for the hundred thousandth praline produced." Another advantage is flexibility. Several varieties can be produced within a very short time. And Zotter is thinking ahead. In the future, he wants to produce completely individualized chocolate - in the spirit of Industry 4.0. Based on collected customer data, chocolates will then be created that take individual customer wishes into account: Including intolerances such as fructose intolerance or other allergies.