Page 35 - Food&Drink Magazine August 2019

Solving a sticky issue
Finding a labelling solution that would meet its high standards led to an adaptable cobot for Prysm.
LABELLING & CODING
PRYSM Industries, based in Dandenong, Victoria, has been producing high quality containers for more than 40 years. Many of its items are headed for some of Australia’s largest retailers, so speed to market, consistency and accuracy are paramount.
With high demands from customers, applying adhesive labels had previously been entrusted to skilled staff, ensuring a high standard of work and few errors. However, the task was incredibly repetitive and could be better performed robotically.
Prysm turned to Universal Robots for an automated solution that could deliver the necessary high standard of accuracy and
volume. It had to at least match a person’s speed, which was a label about every 6-7 seconds.
UR’s collaborative UR5 robot met Prysm’s requirements and budget. Staff were trained through a graphical user interface with a teach function. That enables an operator to simply grab the robot arm and show it how a movement should be performed.
The user-friendly interface then allows staff to drag and drop the routines to do their programming. This means that Prysm staff now have the understanding to reprogram the cobot arm and use it for a variety of tasks, creating a more flexible solution.
The cobot can work in a confined space and be
repositioned easily. It can also be reprogrammed for different tasks in just a few minutes.
Every day it is in operation, Prysm has saved $550 in labelling expenses alone, meaning a payback time of less than 12 months. It has also allowed staff to be redeployed to more interesting and fulfilling tasks. ✷
U.V. Absorption Conductivity
pH / ORP Colour
Robots are happy to do boring and repetitive tasks so humans can do more interesting work.
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www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | August 2019 | Food&Drink business | 35