The demand for new automation solutions is increasing in every industry and nowhere more so than in packaging. Traditionally, picking and packing has been labor intensive. The high pace of the process using manual labor can result in production bottlenecks affecting throughput. Employee health problems can also develop as a result of the highly repetitive nature of the work.

Automation is an attractive alternative and picking and packing robotic solutions represents one of the fastest growing markets in the automation industry. ABB Ltd. already has an installed base of over 2,500 delta robots, specifically designed for this type of application, and it is a world-leader in picking and packing technology. The newly developed second-generation FlexPickerTM ensures that ABB remain at the forefront of this industry, helping customers to improve their productivity.

Second-generation FlexPicker
The FlexPicker is a delta ro­bot uniquely designed for the pick­ing industry, to pick and pack small lightweight objects such as chocolates.

ABB has recently launched the IRB 360 – a second-generation high speed picking robot. Improvements in the design and strength of compo­nents have created a more durable and robust robot that required minimal maintenance to achieve maximal operating time.
One of the most important features of the ABB delta robot is its advanced motion control, allowing rapid, smooth, precise and reproducible tool movement. The second-generation FlexPicker IRB 360 has a faster cycle-speed, can carry a heavier payload, is more compact and can be cleaned more easily.

A delta robot consists of three arms connected by universal joints to the tool interface. The arms form a parallelogram, which maintains the orientation of the tool interface.

Today, the FlexPicker robot is sold mainly to the food, pharmaceutical and solar-cell industries. In fact, in all parts of the world, there is great interest from industries with large picking lines to install reliable robots within a limited amount of floor space. The market is ready and there is a demand for automation with high-speed delta robots. Installations and requests are coming from Turkey, Latvia, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and other nations with rapidly growing industries. ABB is well positioned to meet this demand with its second-generation FlexPicker and applications experience.

<kannan.ramanathan@in.abb.com>