Maximum productivity, reduced operator workload, labour shortages, consistent product quality and less waste: there are many reasons why process automation is increasingly becoming the focus of attention in packaging production. With its robotics portfolio, the Swiss company Bobst offers its customers every opportunity to automate the loading of their machines and palletising.
In Bobst's vision for the future of the packaging industry, the automation of production processes plays a key role alongside digitalisation and networking as well as improving sustainability. With the Integration of Dücker Robotics, a company with 20 years of practical experience in the field of robotic solutions, the company, headquartered in Mex, Switzerland, made its mark on the market around two years ago.
Complete solutions from a single source
„Under the motto ‚Leading Innovation‘, we are constantly bringing pioneering innovations to the market that give our customers around the world new opportunities to strengthen their competitive position. Today, our solutions for folding cartons and corrugated board packaging as well as flexible packaging and labels cover virtually all production requirements from a single source,“ emphasises Pierre Binggeli, Head of the Folding Carton Gluers and Robotics Product Line at Bobst. „Bobst has been the leading provider of packaging production solutions for 135 years. The company has repeatedly supplemented its portfolio with targeted acquisitions of technology leaders. Robotics solutions for the corrugated board market have also become an integral part of the Bobst Group portfolio“, he explains. In future, the also apply to robotic systems that can be used in the production of other types of packaging.
„We offer our customers holistic solutions for the automation of their processes, where they only have one point of contact: a unique selling point in the market. Robot solutions were the last piece of the puzzle that was missing from this picture.“
Pierre Binggeli, Head of the Folding Carton Gluers and Robotics Product Line at Bobst
It is aimed at all processors in the corrugated board industry who want to automate their production processes.
Multiple advantages
The robot systems for the corrugated cardboard market cover different requirements for loading flatbed die-cutters, folder gluers and inliners. They can be individually configured and handle all types of corrugated board. Depending on the machine configuration, this also applies to disproportionate sheets and blanks. The robots for palletising are similarly flexible.
In addition, these automatic auxiliaries can keep up with the highest machine speeds. This means that the performance of the systems can be fully utilised in the processing of corrugated board in non-stop production. The permanent presence of machine operators is no longer necessary.
It also makes work easier for the operating personnel: The robot systems adjust themselves fully automatically. And they are easy to operate via the intuitive screen of the human-machine interface. Order data, including various palletising patterns and configurations, can be stored in their control system. For repeat orders, the stored data can be called up at the touch of a button, guaranteeing the fastest production changeovers. Above all, however, the robot systems eliminate health risks for machine operators that can be associated with repetitive workloads. In practice, these stresses are reduced by around 60 per cent.
Robot systems work flawlessly. This guarantees Stable quality and less waste in packaging production, which in turn benefits sustainability. In addition, robots have very few wearing parts. They are therefore characterised by low maintenance costs.
Automatic feeding of materials
The systems for loading are called Roboloaders at Bobst. Two variants are available for the fully automatic loading of blanks into folding carton gluing machines, one of which is for e-commerce cartons. These systems can can be used for material thicknesses from 1.5 to seven millimetres and allow different speeds here.
The portfolio also includes two systems for loading flatbed die-cutters. While the DF (Direct Feeding) version allows piles of a variety of different sheet materials to be fed directly into the feeder of the machines, the Roboloader SF (Shingle Feeding) is designed for placing piles on conveyor belts. A centring device ensures their exact positioning. The stacks are then fed to the punching machines in the form of continuous shingle streams. These Four robots handle stack heights of up to 2,000 millimetres.
The loading of inliners works in a similar way. Here too, there is a variant for loading directly into the feeder or via conveyor belts. The two Roboloaders for flatbed die-cutters handle micro to double flute, while the loading solutions for inliners also handle triple flute. ZIn addition, these four robots each have six axes and mechanical grippers. You can also flip stacks. This makes it possible to print on both sides of the corrugated cardboard sheets. The design can also be adapted so that the stacks can be fed from the side.
In addition, each of these robot systems has a special feature: The Roboloader FFG DF is with an integrated partition wall for separating and centring the stacks and a rear stop for perfect alignment. An integrated buffer enables sheets to be held and continuously fed, thereby maximising speeds in the infeed.
Perfect palletising
The Robopalettizer for automatic palletising is available in versions for folder-gluers, die-cutters and inliners. Customers can combine several gripper types and robots and utilise various options for layer formation. They can also choose to work with or without strapping and flexibly position intermediate layers.
There are also a wide range of other options, integrate the palletising robots with other systems. For example, a Robopalettiser for folder-gluers can be combined with the Speedpack automatic packing system and its strapping solutions. Another variant acts as a depanelling and palletising solution for die-cutters with medium productivity, the full version of which includes a bundle breaker and a double-layer gripper for higher productivity. With the Robopalettizer FFG for inliners, a robot places double layers on top of each other while a second robot forms stacks. The Vision, Expert and Master versions are predestined for different performance classes.
The Robotop, Wrapper and Robolabel product extensions round off the range: they secure the pallets for transport by placing empty pallets on the stacks. They protect the loads by wrapping the pallets. And they label the loads by applying the required shipping labels. You could say: Bobst offers a one-stop shop for all palletising requirements for manufactured corrugated board packaging.
Exploiting optimisation potential in logistics
„In recent years, packaging manufacturers have primarily minimised their set-up times in order to maximise production output per shift. Especially in the processing of corrugated cardboard, these possibilities have now been exhausted in many cases. With our solutions for the automation of logistics around our customers' machines, we open up new opportunities for them. new opportunities to further increase their output. They gain time when loading their machines and can get their packaging products out of the production process more quickly,“ summarises Pierre Binggeli.
packaging journal 3/2025
