Ceepackaging

Profiles

Rolling System with Robot

Whenever many different packaging or product variants come up in the packaging process, automation as well as rationalization must fulfill another important role: To drive the potential for faults and thus product waste to zero. This was also the aim in this case: Each manual work station would have implied a risk since the three current formats are filled with different color combinations. This involves about five to six color changes per shift – a complexity that is far too error prone for manual work and that will increase significantly in the foreseeable future, when the number of formats will rise to ten. 

By using intelligent process automation, Kugler managed to meet all requirements. To this end, the cosmetic experts installed a filling and packaging process consisting of three work stations and two loops that are interconnected at two points. The three work stations are: a Kugler Flexofill filling machine with two independent filling stations and an insertion station for wipers, a robot station and a Kugler Flexocap capping machine.

First checking, then picking

It starts with the robot, which is located between the filling and capping machine. All parts of the containers are delivered here: Different bottles and tops, such as wands, brushes or caps, for the mascara and the lip gloss. The two-arm robot takes the bottles from the tray and places them in the pucks of the first conveyor loop. In parallel, the second picker of the robot takes up the wands, brushes or caps and places them in the pucks of the second conveyor loop.

At the Kugler Flexofill filling station, the mascara or lip gloss bottles are filled with the respective product followed by a wiper insertion. Now the container can be fed to the capper, a Kugler Flexofill machine, which – supplied with material by the robot – places and closes the wands, brushes or caps. The finished products are then taken out and transported to the secondary packaging process.  

The robot solution offers additional benefits and eventually only this solution could do the job, because particularly the mascara bottles are supplied on Styrofoam trays, in which they lie in unsorted, almost random positions. This requires a visual recognition system that is capable of sensing the position of the bottles, controlling the robot arms and letting them gently “pick” the bottle at the right place. This takes us to the second advantage. Since the packaging company caters to the premium segment of the market, the plastic containers must get to the point of sale without any traces or scratches, leaving out bulk sorting.  While sensing the position, the robot system is at the same time checking the quality, for instance, whether brushes or bottles are faulty. Such objects are not picked up by the robot and will automatically remain in the trays.

In view of the many format changeovers, the filling station is equipped with a redundant second filling unit. If a change of color is coming up, the change station can be prepared while the second station is still filling. After the product change, the second station can be completely cleaned and in turn prepared for the next product change. In addition, this configuration allows for the production of two-tone products with, for instance, two different lip gloss colors in one bottle. As mascara and lip gloss are highly viscous products, both filling stations are heated, which significantly improves the filling with the rotary valve piston pumps without permanent effect on the product properties.

The capping station provides versatility, with the Flexocap system being capable of handling both press-on caps and screw caps with integrated brush. Screw tops are first controlledly pre-tightened and then closed to a precise torque that is measured inside the screw head. This way, every single container is checked, random sampling is no longer required.

Ten formats – on push of a button

The Kugler line is servo-driven. All formats can be stored in the control of the machine. This allows for individual motion sequences and speeds to be defined and stored for each mascara or lip gloss type, and for the torques that act on the screw head to be pre-selected. Format changeover can be carried out at the push of a button, which includes synchronization of the functional sequences of all three aggregates – robot, Flexofill and Flexocap machine.

The entire line is operated by only one operator who is also in charge of supplying container. The output of the filling and packaging machine is a high 60 products per minute. With a volume of 10ml, the filling accuracy is +/- 0.5 percent for all formats. Format changeover for the entire line is carried out without tools in less than 25 minutes. Short delays also characterized the implementation of the project: Only seven months passed between order placement and delivery.