Hollandia begins with robotics, responding to smaller store formats
HOPI s.r.o. has decided to modernize and streamline the removal of dairy products and, in cooperation with Hollandia, has launched an exceptional robotic mixing plant project. Within the supply chain, it is rare that this part of the process is not carried out directly in the production plant but it is in the central logistics warehouse. To this end, both companies have come to the conclusion that modern and efficient technologies such as robots and gradual automation of operations will be a competitive advantage in the logistics market over the years ahead.
For the objectives of the pilot project between the two subsidiaries of HOPI HOLDING a.s. have been determined:
- Saving money for human work in the long run,
- reducing error rates and increasing qualitative parameters,
- greater competitiveness,
- ability to flexibly respond to customer requirements in terms of volume growth,
- to make the most of the space available.
The requirement for the capacity of the blended pallets was at least 200, ideally 250 pallets in 16 hours, as well as the possibility to mix different product variants on average 75mm or 95mm according to customer requirements.
With the help of Fanuc's top robots, a blending machine has been designed and built to provide 12-15 pallets of mixed products for the hourly performance. At the same time, it is possible to change the type of cartons inserted at the beginning of the stand. The method of grabbing gripping products also allows mixes of different varieties of goods to meet customer needs.
The key elements of the mixing machine are robots with industrial arms. At the beginning, the attending worker selects a unique operator program that was created based on customer requirements. One robot selects the desired flavors as needed, the second robot mixes, and the third one places the products in the cartons on a prepared palette that automatically packs and is ready for shipping or storage.
The entire machine is serviced by only one worker and one manipulator removes the mixed-body goods for further warehousing.
The total investment in the project is 16 million CZK with a return of 5 years.
The manual blending of Hollandia products required 10-15 workers of 8hr shift, 7 days a week, according to the size of the goods.
