For time-pressed Britons, pre-washed bags of salad, prepared vegetables and ready-to-eat fruit are becoming more and more appealing. Sales of pre-prepared fruit and veg in the UK are estimated to account for as much as £1 billion.*
While automation continues to flourish amongst food suppliers, fresh food producers have been more hesitant to adopt due to concerns about bruising of delicate fruits and bags of product bursting - which can increase wastage and lead to hefty retailer penalties.
Pacepacker Services has developed a range of fully integrated turnkey systems that can be interlocked into existing lines and specifically address the issue of fresh produce wastage.
FlexaPac a first for handling delicate netted fruits
Automating the labour intensive activity of manually loading netted fruits and delicate vegetables from a rotary table into crates, trays and cartons, Pacepacker’s FlexaPac system is a first for fruit packing. Handling in excess of 60 nets of fruit and vegetables per minute, the FlexaPac virtually eliminates product bruising and waste and has the ability to reduce labour costs by 85%.
With a footprint equivalent to existing rotary table operations, Pacepacker’s patented FlexaPac system comprises two parallel conveyor belts that transport bags of fruit from a packing machine onto a set of landing platforms. Here, once the correct quantity of netted or bagged product has been recognised by the system, they are gently pushed onto a set of lowering plates, which smoothly releases the product into the waiting tray below – completely eliminating damage and waste. Without human handling, the system evenly distributes layers of either netted or bagged fruit, below the level of the tray bale arms or carton lips, until the required quantity is met.
“The patented FlexaPac technology is completely different from anything else on the market,” explains Paul Wilkinson, Pacepacker’s Business Development Manager. “While it has been designed to automate and overcome issues relating to the packing of both netted and bagged fruit it also offers manufacturers of other goods, such as nuts, plant bulbs, onions, cheeses and shell fish, a fast and waste efficient automated packing option.”
Stacks of fresh potential
Pacepacker’s Shingle Tray Loader (STL) is the first fully automated vertical packing solution of its kind, reducing waste and presenting fresh form, fill and seal packs uniformly into retail trays. Incorporating the very latest FANUC M-710iC/45M robot and Pacepacker’s own-design shingle feed end-effector and tray denester, the STL vertically packs everything from fresh bags of salad to chopped vegetables, stir fry mixes and packs of sliced pineapple. Previously a conventional ‘turntable style’ operation employing multiple people to manually load supermarket trays vertically, the STL reaches 90 packs per minute, ensuring consistent presentation. Typical ROI is less than 12 months
The STL’s end effector adjusts its position to catch fresh produce packs as they shoot off the end of a conveyor, stacking packs on top of each other. Once full, the robot arm then tilts the end effector into a horizontal position above a waiting full or half-sized crate, releasing the entire product collection uniformly into the tray. Upright stacking means that products maintain their freshness for longer and are more visually appealing to consumers. In addition, more packs can be fitted into each tray, reducing supply chain and distribution costs
Built to a compact footprint, the STL also features a multi-tasking pack diverter to count and index packs, while the tray denester separates the stacks of crates for filling, pushing them along the conveyor to the shingle packing operation. Up to 20 half trays per line per minute can be processed, ensuring no packing bottlenecks.
“Given the appetite for premium convenience foods, fresh produce suppliers are naturally eager to enter this market. Equally, food retailers are keen to extend their prepared produce range,” concludes Paul. “Hand packing is a labour intensive process. Previously, robots and automation were considered too harsh for handling delicate produce. Yet now there are numerous viable automation options that enable fresh produce suppliers to maintain freshness, respond faster to retail orders and reduce waste and workforce costs. Ultimately suppliers that deliver high quality premium veg, minimal waste and consistent presentation will be clear winners in this next battle to engage shoppers.”
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