Powerful technology for pure plant power: NOA packs vegan spreads with Schubert TLM system

06 Dec 2019 --- German top-loading packaging machine specialist Schubert has supplied spicy spread producer NOA with a compact, high-performance TLM system in which each cup is individually and gently drawn in and always held horizontal. NOA needed a new packaging line for its factory that would automatically pack the freshly filled cups directly from production into display cartons, ensuring that the warm, still liquid contents do not spill out of the round plastic packaging. With its compact TLM system, Schubert has provided a solution to NOA’s needs.

NOA attaches great importance to natural ingredients, completely dispensing with preservatives, added artificial and natural flavors or other additives. All its products are entirely plant-based, gluten-free and manufactured without the use of genetic engineering. NOA’s seven spreads range from aromatic hummus varieties to spicy varieties such as lentil curry or bean paprika.

The TLM system processes each NOA cup individually, using special robots and the Transmodul.To prevent product contamination, the production of plant-based foods is completely separated from milk processing. With this in mind, the manufacturer rebuilt the entire production chain with all the machines before launching the vegan brand NOA. In the new packaging system, which runs online, the various spreads need to be packed in display cartons according to type. The most important requirement for the system’s automation was the gentle handling of the cups so that the liquid content does not spill out during the packaging process.

Jonas Müller, responsible project manager at Gerhard Schubert GmbH, explains: “Whilst still warm, the spreads are filled into flat 175-gram cups, then immediately enter the packaging machine where they cannot be tilted at any point during the entire packing process. In the supermarket, however, the cups do not stand on their bottom, but rather vertically in the sales carton. For this, we had to fill the cartons upright. Another requirement was that the NOA lettering on the round lid would have to be correctly aligned on each cup. This makes it easy for customers to read when shopping,” notes Jonas Müller, the responsible Project Manager for Schubert.During packaging, the cups with the liquid contents must always be kept horizontal. For this reason, the display cartons are placed upright and filled from above.

The solution: Fewer mechanics, more intelligence
To package the products as gently as possible, Schubert dispensed with all grouping aids and mechanical parts that could potentially damage the primary packaging. Instead, in the fully automated process, each cup is picked individually, moved gently whilst in a horizontal position and then aligned. A high machine output nonetheless had to be achieved – and Schubert’s experienced experts use a special technique for this. Instead of grouping or transferring each product one after the other as usual with a pick & place robot, the TLM packaging machine processes four cups in parallel at each station. For each NOA cup, a single tool is provided for each step.

Support is provided by the Transmodul, Schubert’s transport robot. The individual Transmoduls simultaneously feed four erected display cartons, so that each carton can receive one cup at a time during each filling process. And in this case, the great flexibility of the transport robot offers an additional advantage. During carton erection, gluing and sealing, the system does not work with four elements at the same time, but only in pairs. Thanks to intelligent control technology, the Transmodul waits at each station until the second pair is processed. “This means that the system requires fewer tools and still achieves the same performance. Once again, we are fulfilling our Schubert premise: less mechanics, more intelligence,” explains Kanellos Tzinieris, the responsible Area Sales Manager for Schubert.

Individually processed, four pieces at a time
On a length of only 5.9 meters, the new TLM system erects the display cartons in three rows, fills them with four, six or twelve cups depending on the format, glues and seals them. “The machine is so compact that we were able to set it up and put it into operation within a single week,” recalls Müller.Each tool of the so-called spring suction cup moves down individually in a flexible cycle and picks up one of the containers from the belt. If all four suction cups are occupied, the robot arm transfers the containers to the alignment station.

All display carton formats have an integrated lid and a semi-circular cut-out. They are fed in pairs from the magazine and erected on edge by an F2 robot so that they can be filled from above. The Transmodul then conveys four pieces at a time through the packaging process. Parallel to this, the plastic cups are fed into the system in random order on a belt. A Schubert scanner reads the lettering on the covers at the infeed and sends the information to the alignment station.

Schubert chose a so-called spring suction cup to pick up the products from the conveyor belt. With this F2 robot, four suction cups sit in series on a robot arm; they do not move synchronously, but one after the other. Each suction cup moves down individually in a flexible cycle and picks up one of the containers from the belt. If all four suckers are occupied, the robot arm places the containers onto the four separate rotary stands of the alignment station. There, the containers are rotated so that the lettering is aligned identically. Another F2 robot then picks up the products and places them from above into the display cartons provided. This allows each plastic cup to be processed individually and still achieve a cycle of four products per station. Finally, the cartons are glued in pairs, closed and fed out of the line via another belt.With the help of a Schubert scanner, which recognizes the word NOA on the covers, the products are all aligned in the same way, so that the lettering can be read by customers in the supermarket.

A further platform for brand expansion
Thanks to the powerful new TLM packaging machine, NOA can expand its production capacity for vegan delicacies. New formats such as trays with separate lids or other cups can be implemented with the system. Karwendel’s previous experience with packaging machine manufacturer Schubert has been repeated once again for NOA. “The very close and fruitful collaboration with Schubert proved to be the right decision for us. We are very satisfied with the new system and can now successfully expand our still young brand,” comments Andreas Kuisel, Technical Manager for Karwendel-Werke Huber.

The facts and figures:

• 80 cups per minute, 4,800 per hour;
• Trays of 4, 6 and 12 cartons;
• High performance of up to 99 percent;
• Compact length of 5.9 m;
• Transmodul in use.

Edited by Joshua Poole