- Europe
- Americas
- Asia and Middle East
- Africa and Oceania
At a Saxon food producer, four Stäubli Stericlean TX2-90 six-axis robots continuously pack potato dumplings. 160 dumplings per minute, up to 180,000 per day. An impressive performance that can only be achieved with an intelligent automation concept and high-performance robots.
At Friweika in Saxony, Germany, four hygienic robots pack up to 160 fresh potato dumplings per minute – without making contact with the dumplings. The concept, which is as unusual as it is efficient and hygienic, was developed and planned by KRÖNING-Automation and implemented with Stericlean robots from Stäubli.
Things tend to get busy at Friweika eG before Christmas and other holidays – in the most literal sense. The company produces up to 180,000 rolled dumplings every day. As is to be expected with these quantities, production is highly automated. Because ready-made dumplings are a rapidly growing product segment, the company was faced with the task of increasing output in this production area. The task was approached with KRÖNING in Dohna, a specialist in automation for food production.
The production process starts with the weighing of the dumpling dough: Each dumpling weighs around 100 grams. After portioning, it is shaped (rolled) and conveyed to packaging. At the same time, the associated packaging line produces blister packages with cavities for four or eight dumplings. In the last step, the blister packs are filled with the dumplings on two parallel lines.
The dumplings are not touched in the process. A robot picks up the blister pack and holds it at an angle at the end of the conveyor belt so that the individual dumplings fall directly into the cavities. Depending on the type of blister pack, the robot adjusts its position four or 10 times before the blister pack is filled. The next step is to close the package and transport it to the secondary packaging area.
This means that up to 160 dumplings can be packaged per minute. Two robots work together on each line to ensure that this process can take place continuously, i.e. with no need for a buffer zone and without delays when changing the blister packs. While one robot places a filled package on the conveyor belt heading for the sealing station, the second robot grips an empty blister pack and the first dumpling is placed into it.
One of the great advantages of this solution is that the robot grippers do not make direct contact with the dumplings. This is good for the robots, as the dough doesn’t stick to their grippers, but it is also good for the dumplings, which the robots catch without making contact, thus avoiding any pressure marks caused by mechanical gripping processes.
The new production line sets standards in a number of ways. The system is relatively compact, achieves high output, and impresses with a top-level hygiene concept using Stäubli TX2-90 Stericlean robots, which are approved for aseptic production areas in the pharmaceutical industry. These can easily withstand daily cleaning processes with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Because H2O2 also affects surfaces, the fully VHP-resistant Stericlean robots, with their specially treated surfaces, are not only the right choice, but almost always the only option.
All in all, the robot-assisted packaging line, which does not require direct contact between the robots and the potato dumplings, enables highly dynamic and precise production. In addition to guaranteeing compliance with the strictest hygiene standards, it offers increased productivity and consistent product quality from the user's perspective.
