CFIA Rennes is an international trade fair for the food industry where the latest trends, technologies and solutions take centre stage. This year, over 20,000 visitors and 1,600 exhibitors are expected, and Gerhard Schubert will also be taking part for the fourth time. The experts from the Crailsheim-based packaging machine manufacturer are especially looking forward to showing their customers, interested parties and visitors the tog.519 cobot in action. Charles-Antoine Freiher, Area Sales Manager at Schubert, explains: “The cobot is incredibly versatile. It can be used to compensate for a lack of skilled labour, make up for machine stoppages or even to quickly establish new formats. The best way to see this for yourself is to experience it on site and get an impression of its remarkable and very unique capabilities.”
The electronic components and the 3D image processing, which thanks to AI can also work with a standard 2D camera, are fully integrated into the system.
The tog.519 cobot for highly flexible automation
The cobot that Schubert is presenting at the CFIA is designed for high-performance pick & place applications with lightweight products: At up to 90 cycles per minute, the tog.519 can pick a wide variety of foods such as muesli bars from a crate or conveyor belt and place them in any desired destination. It can accomplish this thanks to AI-supported image processing developed by Schubert. It recognises both products as they are picked up and the environment in which they are to be placed. The cobot was developed to automate the feeding process at the packaging machine, which is often still handled manually. Processes such as placing products from a crate onto a conveyor belt, separating, correctly orienting or sorting them are very complex and, until now, could rarely be solved cost-effectively by machine. The cobot can also be used at different and constantly changing points in production – thereby closing automation gaps. It is even possible to set up a cobot line with several robots. Overall, the tog.519 cobot excels with its exceptional speed, flexibility and simplicity. It has the potential to take packaging processes in food production to the next level of automation.
An extensive portfolio of machines for food packaging
At the CFIA, the Schubert experts will also be providing information about their diverse portfolio of top-loading packaging machines for food. From pick & place applications for the picker line to packaging into flowpacks with the Flowpacker and the cartoning of a wide range of products and formats, Schubert offers all the machine technologies that manufacturers need for their high-quality food packaging. The packaging machine manufacturer always focuses on sustainability – and Schubert’s flexible, modular and easily convertible packaging solutions process both conventional and fully recyclable packaging. The French team will be happy to provide visitors with detailed information about the performance ranges of the various machines and advise them on investing in cost-effective and future-proof packaging processes.
As an example of more environmentally friendly packaging, Schubert will also be presenting two solutions it developed in-house at its CFIA stand: Dotlock, a technology that enables cardboard packaging to be produced entirely without glue, and a cardboard-monofilm hybrid solution – also without glue – that significantly minimises the use of plastic. Charles-Antoine Freiher adds: “The potential for sustainability lies in the perfect interaction between machine and packaging. Food customers who would like to be more environmentally conscious can obtain comprehensive advice from our Packaging Perspectives experts.” For visitors to the fair, samples of Dotlock and the new hybrid packaging will be available at the Schubert stand in Hall 10, Stand B65.
Dotlock is a 100 per cent glue-free technology for cardboard packaging developed by Schubert.
