automation. By modernizing equipment and workflows, efficiency
and thus production speed can be increased, while at the same
time reducing the use of resources and energy in terms of sustainable
production. In addition, the accelerated workflows from processing
to packaging to transport help to extend the potential time
of fresh products in the display and therefore prevent food waste.
ABB is a solutions partner to food manufacturers throughout
their automation journey, across the entire value chain. Food manufacturers
benefit from ABB's diverse expertise in a wide range of
areas: from mixing of products to packaging as well as logistics.
The modular, scalable approach of ABB's solutions makes it possible
to successively automate the individual work steps as required.
ABB's robotics and automation solutions are embedded in a digital
ecosystem, including digital services and suitable software solutions
for user-friendly control, programming and maintenance of
the robots and systems.
ABB offers a range of pick-and-place robots specifically for the
needs of the food industry. They combine the usual quality features
such as flexible application options and precise operation with a
hygienic design. Due to their special geometry, the robots offer
virtually no surface for contamination and are particularly easy to
clean, even under high temperatures. This design enables them to
meet the high hygiene requirements in food production.
Automated picking of fresh produce
If dairy companies are looking for inspiration on how to address
the trend towards healthy convenience food through automation,
they will find it at Heemskerk Fresh & Easy. The Dutch company
delivers up to 4 million fresh convenience products such as salads
and ready meals to supermarkets and fast-food chains around
the world every week. Heemskerk was quick to respond to the
demand for healthy convenience food and now has over 400
products available in this product range, including fresh salads,
boxed ready meals and pre-cut fruit and vegetables. That is why
the minimum dwell time of fresh products in the supply chain
and just-in-time delivery are crucial for Heemskerk. At a certain
point, these increased requirements could not be reconciled with
manual picking in the factory. To make its processes in this area
more efficient and therefore more future-proof, Heemskerk invested
The use of automation solutions in running operations ensures
an immediate boost in efficiency and a higher competitiveness
of the company.
in a comprehensive robot automation solution from ABB.
Today, a four-axis IRB 660 from ABB picks the boxes with the orders
for a particular supermarket and places them on a conveyor belt on
which they are transported to the picking zone. There, six six-axis
IRB 6700 robots, positioned on a rail, pick up the boxes and place
them in the sorting bins intended for different supermarkets. Two
more IRB 6700 robots on the other side of the picking zone form
stable, mixed and high stacks from the crates. Finally, an IRB 660
four-axis robot picks up these stacks of crates and places them on
trolleys, which can be transported directly to the supermarket. This
solution allows an endless variety of orders to be picked quickly
and efficiently – especially helpful given the daily changing volume
orders in the fresh produce industry. The modular and standardized
design of ABB's robotic solution makes it easy to expand capacity
by adding new robot zones.
In traditional logistics processes, packaged food is usually first
stacked in the supermarket chain's central warehouse. Only when
orders are received from the individual shops are the products
picked, stacked and transported further. This process alone takes
about half a day – and the shelf life of the fresh products is correspondingly
reduced by this time. With the automatic picking function
of the ABB robot solution, logistics companies now get the
opportunity to dock their products directly to supermarkets. Retailers
receive already picked quantities for each of their shops. This
efficiency gain in the supply chain extends the shelf life of fresh
produce by about one day.
Head start in the race against time
Heemskerk is not an isolated case: the learning from the acceleration
of the logistics process can be transferred to all areas of the
food industry, where fresh, healthy products with a limited shelf
life have to find their way to the end consumer as quickly as possible.
Here, the gain in efficiency and time through the automation
of processes offers food manufacturers the opportunity to maintain
their competitiveness even when facing increasing and volatile
demands. They are put in a position to react flexibly and economically
to nutritional trends. The use of robotic solutions is a tried and
tested way to increase efficiency along the entire value chain, comply
with high hygiene requirements and flexibly scale capacities.
ABB supports suppliers in the food industry by providing customised
automation solutions for everything from mixing of
products to packaging and logistics.
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