Yakult commissions Schubert for its film to cardboard secondary packaging transition

28 Mar 2019 --- Yakult Europe has commissioned Schubert to develop a machine for its transition from plastic film to cardboard secondary packaging. The Yakult plant has also increased its production capacity with the new Schubert machine and can now pack 43,200 bottles per hour.

The probiotic drink is produced for the European market in Almere in the Netherlands and supplies 13 European countries. “We wanted to change the secondary packaging from film to cardboard in the European market. That’s why we commissioned Schubert to develop a machine,” says Ronald Jacobs, Plant Manager for Yakult Europe. “Together with Schubert's experts, we developed an environmentally-friendly and practical form of packaging.”

Yakult’s transition from film to cardboard plays into the growing trend of plastic-alternative solutions. Innova Market Insights pegged “Nature’s Appeal” as its third most significant packaging trend for 2019, citing anti-plastic sentiment and the rising demand for designed-in recyclability as motives for the resurgence in paper-based packaging. Paper is not only by nature renewable, recyclable and compostable but can also add value via its “natural” appearance in an increasingly eco-conscious society, the market researcher notes.

A camera checks the cardboard boxes for completeness before they are closed.The specifications for the packaging system were varied: flexible format options, high performance and a small predefined footprint were among the requirements. The machine also had to offer the option of inserting a leaflet between the bottles in the pack for customer information purposes. Schubert’s engineers achieved “maximum performance in the smallest possible space” with a combination of several F2 robots, four Transmodul sections and image recognition systems. The machine packs 720 Yakult bottles per minute. The fast format conversion supports secondary packaging in 6- or 8-packs.

The carton blanks are picked up by F3 robots in the magazine and made available in a horizontal position. The F2 robots pick up these blanks, glue them as they pass through the glueing station, press them through the folding unit and place them directly on a Transmodul, which transports the erected cardboard boxes to the next work steps.

At the same time, the transport chain guides the bottles from the upstream machine into the TLM system. “Distributing bottles from a single-path infeed to two paths at high speed was quite a challenge,” notes Georg Koutsogiannis, the Sales Account Manager at Schubert responsible for the project. A grouping chain distributes the bottles on two tracks to the two infeed screws, which individually transfer the products to two toothed belt conveyors.

From there, the bottles enter the receiving areas of two F2 robots, each of which removes 48 bottles from the conveyor and places them on a Transmodul of the system’s second Transmodul section. This Transmodul transports the bottles to two further F2 robots. The robots each grip 24 bottles simultaneously, push them together to carton size and place them in the erected cardboard boxes on the first Transmodul section.

Depending on the format, either 12 or 16 cardboard boxes are filled simultaneously. If required, a leaflet is inserted between the bottles before a camera checks the packaging for completeness and it is closed by the next two F2 robots. The sealing robots place the cardboard boxes on a Transmodul of the third Transmodul section in the line.Yakult's tertiary packaging.

Along the line, a printer provides the cardboard boxes with an expiry date. The sealed cardboard boxes are then placed in a display carton by two further F2 robots, each with five units. The display cartons are also erected following the same principle as the cardboard boxes in the system and transported to the filling area via a fourth Transmodul section.

Schubert solved the upward discharge of the filled display cartons with an integrated elevator. Another special feature of the new Schubert packaging machine is the central glue refilling station for erecting and closing the cartons.

Yakult Europe has reported a 97 percent production efficiency with Schubert’s packaging machine, which represents a significant increase for the plant. Moreover, the system offers flexible format options for future requirements in secondary and tertiary packaging.

In the easy-to-open display carton, the bottles containing the unique Shirota bacteria are now available in supermarkets across Europe. The bottles can be safely and securely stored in the box in the fridge at home.

By Joshua Poole