IRB and the chocolate
factory
Collaborative robot technology in the food industry
Ralf Naßmacher, Senior Sales Manager, ABB Robotics, Germany
The IRB 660 with its handling capacity of 180 or 250 kg is
perfectly suited for palletising and material handling tasks.
IDM ¦ Packaging
Today's consumers are accustomed
to an enormous variety
and individualisation in their food
selection while also expecting
freshness and sustainability of the products
consumed. These products have to find
their way from the factory to the counter
or the refrigerated shelf in the best quality
possible. This trend is also clearly noticeable
in the dairy industry along the entire
value chain, with the added pressure of
competition by the growing range of the
milk substitutes market.
Many dairy companies are already
meeting these challenges today through
different levels of automation in their manufacturing
and logistics processes. However,
many process steps still require the
involvement of human employees. That is
why companies must ensure safety whenever
humans and machines work closely
together. In the case of robots, this is often
done with cages, fences or other barriers.
Great potential for more efficiency can be
found precisely at these points of contact!
Safe human-robot collaboration without
spatial boundaries not only saves space in
production, but also time – through the
elimination of long ways the products have
to go and more fluid production processes.
6 · July/August 2022 ¦ international-dairy.com
/international-dairy.com
