Yogurt Packaging Made 30% Faster
Thanks to off-the-shelf anti-sloshing solution
"We were totally surprised. Although we didn’t ask for it, Omron’s Field Application Engineer pro-actively made our machine a lot faster and a lot more valuable – overnight." Jean-Philippe Varenne, CEO PACKINOV
The French packaging machine manufacturer, PACKINOV, asked our local service department to collaborate with them on developing a new machine. They especially wanted high levels of compactness
and cost-efficiency. PACKINOV not only got the expertise it expected, but also a mini-revolution in machine performance: an increase in packaging speed of more than 30%.
"I had been assigned to work with PACKINOV engineers onsite to see where we could help and reducing the machine’s size and cost,” says Omron Field Application Engineer, Régis Couchoud, “so naturally we looked at the components and materials and identified possible gains. Then it occurred to me that Omron’s vibration suppression technology could also reduce the machine’s cost of ownership – by making it more productive."
Avoiding spillage is essential in F&B
Minimising sloshing in liquid-filling activities is highly desirable in the packaging industry, since the more you can minimise sloshing, the faster you can move products unsealed without spilling the liquid. In fact, avoiding spillages is even essential in the hygiene-conscious world of food and beverage.
Off-the-shelf solution for multiple recipes
Although anti-sloshing is highly desirable, deploying vibration suppression demands experience in software and control
technology. Even when successful, the acceleration profile is good for just one recipe or liquid type. That is not the case with the solution implemented for PACKINOV. Our engineer downloaded the free Function Block and input some of the liquid’s parameters.
The result was optimised anti-sloshing. What’s more, he also uploaded several recipes and liquid types. With an NA HMI end-user operators could change recipes with the touch of a few on-screen buttons, enabling one machine to package several different liquid products.
Smaller, faster, more economical – with Sysmac
The vibration control technology is made via our Sysmac integrated platform, which uses one connection, one software and one machine controller. This means that only one network is necessary for all machine functions including motion, safety, vision, robotics and sensing. Even better, since all the components and subsystems are automatically recognised by the single software environment, no addressing is necessary, and all parameters can be easily shared to reduce development time to an absolute minimum.
Award-winning innovation
PACKINOV’s new yoghurt packaging machine, RMD Nano, was optimised in terms of size and cost-efficiency – as according to the original request. But the increased speed of packaging made possible by the Omron anti-sloshing technique was one of the reasons why it won the “Most innovative packaging machine” category at the 2016 CFIA Show in Rennes, France.
