Schubert designs pick & place robot system for optimized holed-cheese production

02 May 2019 --- Robot-based packaging machine specialist Schubert has developed a special pre-grouping system for cheese producer and supplier Jermi, which has allowed the company to up its packaging speeds to 270 products per minute. To achieve this, Schubert used pick & place robots to stack the blisters containing cheese in matching cassettes on a Transmodul, overcoming the issue that the number of cheese slices per blister must be adjusted to ensure that the weight of goods is identical in every pack.

Sliced cheese types which have lots of holes share an unusual feature: the number of cheese slices per blister must be adjusted to ensure that the weight of goods is identical in every pack. Slices with an abundance of holes require more volume at the same weight.

The compact TLM packaging system developed by Schubert for Jermi can pack products into either cartons or plastic crates.“For this reason, the deep-drawn plastic packaging varies in height. Blisters also bulge where cheese slices have plenty of holes. This means that more protective gas enters the packaging and can expand further,” notes Kanellos Tzinieris, the responsible Area Sales Manager at Schubert.

An important part of cheese production is packing the plastic blisters containing the sliced cheese into cartons, which Jermi then delivers to supermarkets. Well-known varieties such as Gouda, Tilsiter, butter cheese or Edam, which are already available in blisters weighing 250 grams or 400 grams, are packed into display cartons with folding tabs on the front.

Most frequently, discounters make use of these convenient package sizes. The handy cartons can be quickly placed on the store shelves so that customers can easily remove the individual blisters. In order to better meet the growing demand, Jermi planned to increase production to double the output. For this purpose, an investment was to be made in a packaging system that could pack the plastic blisters fully automatically and efficiently into the secondary packaging.

F4 robots take the plastic blisters from the product belt and immediately group them in the correct position on the Transmodul.The specifications for a new plant were therefore clearly defined: the same number of blisters should always be packed in one carton. At the same time, the packaging output had to be increased significantly and the entire process needed to run fully automatically.

As a solution for the variable product heights, the Schubert experts developed a special pre-grouping system in which pick & place robots stack the blisters in matching cassettes on a Transmodul. The plastic blisters are then placed in stacks into the trays provided and compressed during this process. A robot also pushes the blisters together again when the carton lid is inserted. This allows the space in the secondary packaging to be fully utilized.

The new Schubert machine ensures that each carton contains the identical number of blisters.Moreover, this ensures that each carton contains the identical number of blisters. For Jermi, the newly developed process with the special pre-grouping provides a decisive advantage: around 10 percent more products can now be transported on the same space and displayed for sale. “We could put an extra layer of plastic blisters in the display carton,” says Kanellos Tzinieris.

Schubert equipped the packaging line with a further special feature: the TLM machine also inserts blisters into plastic crates instead of unmixed carton trays. They are later packed manually as mixed packages and temporarily stored in the crates in the cold storage. This system also offers the flexibility Schubert machines are known for – if required, up to 13 formats can be processed.

The blisters are inserted from the rear panel through integrated carton cut-outs so the cover can be inserted into position.The compact TLM packaging system developed by Schubert for Jermi consists of five sub-machines. Two Transmodul sections are integrated into the system. The products are pre-grouped on one of them, and the other one transports the display cartons. While the cheese packages are being fed into the system, the cartons are removed from the magazine and erected.

F4 robots pick up the cheese blisters from the infeed belt and place them into the cassettes provided on the Transmodul. From there, F2 robots remove the pre-grouped cheese packages and place them in stacks in the tilted display cartons. In order to finally be able to insert the lids from above into the display cartons, a robot pushes the plastic blisters inwards from the rear wall of the cartons through two specially integrated carton cut-outs.