Endoline will unveil its 248 Fully Automatic Case Erector which has been fitted with an SMC Air Management System (AMS) to monitor the system’s air consumption and dramatically reduce customer energy costs.

Widely used to drive automation on large-scale factory processes, compressed air typically accounts for up to 40% of a manufacturing facility’s total energy bill and leak rates can be high if not monitored effectively. As well as being a direct source of wasted energy, leaks can affect output which can lead to unnecessary cost.

In a direct bid to mitigate the risk of air leaks and reduce costs for manufacturers, Endoline has worked with SMC Pneumatics UK to fit the Air Management System AMS30 to its 248 Fully Automatic Case Erector. This monitors the air flow, only using the amount needed and, when the machine isn’t in operation, it can reduce the air pressure to set values and isolate the air supply which vastly reduces costly and often needless air consumption.

Offering full traceability, the system features an OPCUA open dashboard facility to monitor the output of compressed air from the systems. This information is capable of being fed through to the customer’s chosen monitoring system providing them with a precise picture of the amount of air being used, enabling them to detect any leaks quickly.

“Our fully automatic case erectors are powered by servo drives which permits greater flexibility and control by allowing almost instant acceleration and deceleration of cases through the erecting process,” comments Andrew Yates, managing director of Endoline Automation. “Servo drives only use power when needed, saving energy. However, we are very aware of the pressures on our customers to drive down energy costs further and the use of compressed air can push these costs up if not monitored correctly.

"We are delighted to now offer a solution which will not only reduce energy costs for clients but make our systems even more efficient.”

The integration of SMC’s Air Management System AMS can now be fitted to most Endoline Automation systems, and retrofitted to existing Endoline systems if modifications are made. Stand E22

www.endoline-automation.com

Responding to calls for sustainable sealing solutions which reduce the use of plastic, Endoline will showcase its 248 Fully Automatic High Speed Case Erector, which has been engineered to seal cases with hot melt glue rather than tape.

While utilising glue sealing alternatives can significantly reduce plastic consumption for manufacturers, it also helps drive down material waste as 2 square inches of adhesive glue will close an average size box compared with over 200 square inches of tape.

Further responding to demands to create eco-friendly sealing solutions, Endoline will also highlight recyclable Kraft tape as an additional eco-friendly sealing alternative.

The British manufacturer, which has been creating end-of-line machinery solutions for over 40 years, will also demonstrate the eco credentials across its case erecting and sealing system ranges. Including power saving features which reduce energy consumption, and the use of servo drives to significantly drive down noise emissions whilst only using power while operating.

“We are seeing growing calls from customers for OEMs to demonstrate their sustainable credentials, and this is driving innovation in the packaging machinery space,” comments Andrew Yates, managing director of Endoline Automation.

“While our systems have been re-engineered over the years to reduce energy consumption and cut emissions to support the environmental objectives of our customers, we are looking at ways to help them decrease plastic use and waste even further by offering eco-friendly sealing alternatives.” Stand D50

www.endoline-automation.com

Based on the increasingly popular principle of Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) where providers offer robots as a service to an organisation for managing repetitive tasks, Endoline’s Pal financial solutions negates the need for a large initial capital investment.

As an expensive commodity, many manufacturers, particularly those who work seasonally, have shied away from investing in robotics due to the difficulties in achieving a quick return on investment. However, as the only G7 country with a robot density below the world’s average, the UK is ranked as the 20th most productive country in the world.

Manufacturers now need to take full advantage of the robotic technology available to them and exploit the benefits so as not to fall even further behind.

As a FANUC strategic partner, Endoline Robotics manages the installation of robotic palletising systems within UK manufacturing plants.

Under its new ‘pal’ finance offering, Endoline will offer customers the following: Go-Pal, an outcome-based contract, with no capital investment, enabling manufacturers to only pay for the number of pallets produced and Rent-Pal, which provides both short- and long-term rental solutions.

Further de-risking the purchasing process, Endoline are also offering a ‘Try Before You Buy’ option, where manufacturers are invited to run product trials before placing an order.

“A good robotic palletising system will optimise productivity, reduce waste and address rising manufacturing labour costs.” Comments Andrew Yates, managing director of Endoline Robotics. “For some manufacturers however, cost is still a factor.”

“Our Pal finance solutions, and Try Before You Buy initiative, should empower manufacturers to automate their palletising operations with an investment plan which meets their requirements exactly.”

http://www.endoline-robotics.com

With huge advantages over stationary systems, the transportable 1000 series of robotic palletising solutions, featuring a FANUC robotic arm, can be easily moved and incorporated into different production lines within a manufacturing facility as and when demand dictates. With three separate systems under the range, all with upgradeable options, Endoline Robotics’ 1000 series is designed to grow with a company, making it a system for life.

The first in the series, the semi-automatic 1001 system, receives product from a single infeed and palletises on a pallet stationed on the floor. Once the operation is complete, the system signals the operator to remove the full pallet and add a new one to be palletised. While mirroring the process of the 1001, the 1002 palletiser is also semi-automatic, but begins palletising a second pallet when the first is filled, enabling operators to replace the filled pallet with an empty one for continuous operation.

Completing the range is the fully automatic, 1003 system. Products arrive at the palletising position from an infeed conveyor and the robotic arm palletisers according to pre-defined patterns. When the process is complete, the system discharges the loaded pallet onto a conveyor outside the cell.

Each system within the range is designed to handle various pre-defined products with quick changeovers. At speeds of 12 cycles per minute, the FANUC robotic arm provides precise product handling of carton boxes, display boxes, trays, multipacks, bags and totes.

Ideal for manufacturers who previously rejected palletising automation due to concerns around flexibility, the 1000 series can dramatically increase palletising speed and efficiency, offering an ROI in under 30 months. Industry 4.0 ready, each system can also monitor key performance indicators and manufacturers can extract performance data.

“The launch of the 1000 series of palletising robots strengthens our strategic partnership with FANUC,” comments Andrew Yates, Managing Director of Endoline Robotics. “Our customers are increasingly requiring robotic systems; however they also seek flexible solutions which won’t be left redundant if their businesses change. The 1000 series of palletising robots offers a complete solution.”

While flexible and with upgradeable options, the compact nature of the 1000 series makes it ideal for sites with limited space. It can also be easily moved by forklift and quickly installed and commissioned onto different lines as and when demand dictates.

https://endoline-robotics.com/

Manufacturers are increasingly looking to integrate automated and robotic systems into their processing and packing facilities to safeguard continued manufacturing, while mitigating the current restrictions placed on manual workers.

As a designer and manufacturer of both standard and customised end-of-line packaging machines, Endoline builds systems to suit a customer’s exact requirements. However, a thorough understanding of a customer’s needs is an integral element of this process, with many personnel involved.

Leveraging its experience in dealing with global customers, who often need the involvement of several manufacturing sites across the world to link up virtually to view live Factory Acceptance Tests, Endoline have packaged up this expertise within its Virtual Machine Demonstration resource.

Through live demonstrations, manufacturers can speak to a range of Endoline personnel, including sales, technical engineers, and end-of-line machinery designers to create a system which meets their specific needs. Endoline’s prime position of building machinery in-house also enables customers to ask technical questions, and view multiple functionalities of the machine during the build process.  

“We are witnessing an increasing reliance on automation to streamline processing and packing lines.” Comments Andrew Yates, Sales Director at Endoline Automation. “It is essential that we continue to deliver the same level of high-quality service and diminish any challenges customers may face when installing valuable equipment during these unprecedented times.”

The fact that Endoline’s fully automated systems can also be controlled and monitored remotely further reduces the risk to personnel as it negates the need for human presence, and allows for the factory to operate remotely.

Endoline’s Virtual Machine Demonstration can be carried across virtual conferencing platforms Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams.

The move reinforces Endoline’s reputation as a leading provider of case erecting and sealing automation and, through the strength of the FANUC brand, it will now manage the installation of robotic palletising systems under the umbrella of ERL.

While overseen by Endoline Machinery’s management team, headed up by Managing Director Andrew Yates, ERL will be driven by Director of Sales, Grigory Belosky, who was formerly Endoline’s International Sales Manager.

“Our ability to engineer customised, fully automatic case erecting and sealing solutions underpins our reputation in the market. Through our relationship with leading global food manufacturers we have become increasingly aware of the demand for robotic integration, particularly as companies move away from using manual labour.” Andrew Yates, Managing Director of Endoline Robotics Limited.

“The decision to partner with FANUC, and launch a sister company, dedicated to robotic palletising equipment, illustrates a progressive period in our almost 40-year history. While we have developed the company and built up a solid export business, we are committed to the UK and creating solutions which directly meets our customer’s needs.”

The newly formed Endoline Robotics Limited, which will project manage the supply and installation of FANUC robotic palletising systems, was officially being launched at the PPMA Total Show.

Andrew Armstrong, Sales & Marketing Manager at FANUC UK, comments: “The automation of end of line palletising systems represented a major growth area for British industry, with robots perfectly poised to take the strain of monotonous and repetitive tasks off human workers, freeing up their time to complete more value-added tasks.

“We have had a fruitful working relationship with Endoline for a number of years and are very much looking forward to sharing our expertise of automating end of line systems with one of the sector’s leading OEMs. Endoline Robotics is set to join-up the dots and potentially change the perceptions of automation in this field for good. As such, we are very much looking forward to sharing this journey with them.”

Endoline’s entry level range incorporates semi-automatic and fully automatic case erecting and sealing solutions. With an average case run of 18 cases per minute, each system delivers a flawless finish and is capable of operating 24/7.

With an entry level Endoline system a company should expect to see a return on their investment within 12 months. Stand E46

Due to the natural casing of the original haggis line it was difficult to automate the packing line as Macsween MD, James Macsween explains: “As our original product range is packed within its own natural casing our packing lines were manual as sizes differ greatly.   However we standardised the packing of the ‘Delicious Everyday’ range, allowing us to look into automating the packing line.”

Automating a packing line was a first in the 60 year lifespan of Macsween however the company immediately contacted Murray Packaging, Endoline’s Scottish distributor, to install two packing lines as James explains: “Murray Packaging was our first point of call as we have worked with Ian Murray in the past and he has the ability to take on board what we want to achieve and offer solutions.  Also Endoline make the best kit and are British made.”

The installation of these two lines, however, did not come without its complications: “In order to be on the major supermarket shelves by September we needed to be up and running by 25th July,” comments Macsween. “Thankfully Ian took this on board and we were up and running within eight weeks.”

Also both lines needed to be installed within the original factory and space was tight so Murray Packaging and Endoline designed a ‘cruciform’ system with three conveyors running in parallel.

Two Endoline power roller conveyors were installed at the start of each packing line where a manual worker puts the packaged product onto these once it has been run through a chub labeller. Each of the packing lines has an elevated conveyor which runs the product from the power roller to a packing station where four manual packers are ready to pack the products into a formed box. A single, fully automatic 248 case erector feeds BOTH of these packing lines and formed cases are transported to the packing stations via a conveyor running above the packing stations. 

“A control system was integrated into the conveyor to accumulate and control the in-feed of the empty boxes to work in tandem with the pace of the manual operators so as each box is removed from the line another is moved along ensuring a constant smooth flow.” Ian Murray, MD of Murray Packaging, comments.  “As the empty cases are light we ran the conveyor from the case erector up an incline with a 90 degree bend to run at head level for the packers, not only meeting the factory’s space constraints but ensuring it was ergonomically friendly to the packers so there was a minimum twist and turn effort.”

Once the packers have filled the case with the desired quantity of product, either 6 or 8 depending on the individual customers’ requirements, the full case is then placed by the packer onto a third power roller conveyor, which runs parallel with the packing station, to be sealed. Two fully automatic Endoline 602 case sealers are fitted at the end of each line to close the top flaps of the boxes and accurately tape the tops for a flawless finish. Both the case erector and case sealer can be easily adjusted to deal with different case sizes. 

Combined both lines can run up to 40,000 cases of the ‘Delicious Everyday’ range per day, increasing Macsweens overall output by 200%.

Visitors to PPMA 2115 will see the first machines in they comapny's new entry level range – a case erector, dubbed ‘ELCE’ – and a new fully automatic case sealer. Both machines have been designed to offer companies with lower speed lines the option of having an Endoline high quality machine to suit all requirements, from speed and reliability, to maintenance and price.

The new products enable Endoline to offer a complete range to cater for low, medium or high speed production lines. Stand D20

Endoline installed its fully automatic 221 case erector with integrated dual opposing vacuum technology, which uses two vacuum systems for consistent, positive opening of the case. The machine also includes pneumatic rockets which open the outer case flaps before the inner case flaps, which overcomes issues with folding the case flaps that more conventional case erectors regularly have.

The 221 case erector is also built to a small footprint to take up minimum space within Bennett’s site.