As part of the trend towards individualization, more and more consumers expect to be able to choose from a wide variety of options for their consumer goods. In many places, they now even have the option of configuring the product of their choice to suit their needs and preferences with just a few clicks of the mouse - a trend that does not stop at the food industry. Irrespective of specific sectors, this trend is leading to an explosion in product variety on the part of manufacturers and retailers. This is having a disruptive effect on production and logistics processes as well as on the manufacturing architecture. As a result, many food manufacturers are focusing on the two pillars of digitalization and automation in order to address the increasing requirements in an economical way and thus secure their competitiveness in times of changing food trends. By modernizing systems and workflows, efficiency and thus production speed can be increased, while at the same time reducing the consumption of resources and energy in terms of sustainable production.

Safe MRK in palletizing

With 'SafeMove', the safety functions are integrated directly into the robot controller. The robot only operates within a precisely calculated, predefined range.

© Nestlé / Michelle Tomaz

Even if modern production is at an advanced stage of automation, there are always process steps in which employees have to assist robots. At such interfaces between man and machine, companies must take precautions to ensure the safety of employees and avoid production downtimes. In the case of robots, spatial barriers such as cages, protective grids or light barriers often prevent humans and machines from 'getting into each other's way'. However, barriers of this kind take up valuable production space and can slow down processes, for example by creating longer distances. This is where safe, direct human-robot
collaboration can help to leverage great efficiency potential. For example, the space gained by eliminating barriers can be used to consolidate the production architecture, while saving long travel times also speeds up production processes.

With dozens of different 'KitKat' flavors, Nestlé is familiar with consumers' demand for variety. The food company is also aware of the benefits of automation in order to achieve maximum efficiency in production and therefore relies on human-robot collaboration in many places. One example of this is the Caçapava factory in Brazil, where Nestlé produces and packs 'KitKat' chocolate bars for the American continent. In order to make the semi-automated packaging process in this production facility more flexible and to use the available space as efficiently as possible, Nestlé decided to work with ABB.

ABB palletizing solutions had already been used in Caçapava before. The aim of the current project was to develop a more compact robot cell that could then be replicated as a prototype at other sites. A key requirement for the solution was the possibility of direct human-robot collaboration, as human personnel occasionally intervene in the pallet change. Therefore, a prerequisite for this application was that the robots used could interact safely with their human colleagues.

Safe robot control instead of a cage

ABB developed a new, compact robot palletizing cell together with the Nestlé engineering team for this special requirement profile. In this cell, a four-axis 'IRB 660' palletizing robot picks up the 'KitKat' cartons at the end of the production line with its suction gripper according to a defined program and stacks them accurately on the pallet in order to distribute the load evenly. With a handling capacity of 180 or 250 kg (depending on the variant) and a reach of 3.15 m, this industrial robot is ideal for palletizing and material handling tasks. Thanks to the safety-certified 'SafeMove' technology, the 'IRB 660' is also able to work together with humans at certain points in accordance with the Machinery Directive 2006/47/EC in conjunction with DIN ISO 12100.

With 'SafeMove', the safety functions are integrated directly into the robot controller. The robot only operates within a precisely calculated, predefined range. Sensors in the robot cell report when a person approaches the machine, so that the controller immediately reduces the speed of the robot movement or stops the robot completely. If the person leaves the safety zone, the robot can resume its movement independently. This collaborative approach eliminates the need for extensive safety fences and other barriers and enables Nestlé to automate smaller areas on the production line. Overall, thanks to 'SafeMove', the company has been able to save around 30 to 40% space in its production cells compared to its predecessor cells - simply by eliminating the need for safety fences.

The right cell thanks to simulation

Thomas Reisinger is Manager Solution Experts at ABB Robotics in Friedberg.

© ABB

The cell design was created using 'RobotStudio' software, a virtual environment for programming and simulating complete robot installations from ABB. It was used to simulate the complete robot cell right down to the cycle times. The 'Virtual Controller', a copy of the original robot software including the configurations used in the real application, helps with the exact simulation. Using digital twins of the respective robot cells, 'RobotStudio' can be used to create and test cell designs offline without having to interrupt ongoing operation. This significantly shortens the project time and helps to optimize the cell design before the physical counterpart is built.

The HRC-suitable palletizing cell for Nestlé did full justice to its role as a prototype: after successful commissioning in the Caçapava factory, it was reproduced in three other Nestlé factories in Brazil. There are now 13 such palletizing cells in operation, and more are currently being installed and commissioned.