The Italian packaging machine manufacturer Cama has developed a new product line for the primary packaging of macadamia products for the North American confectionery manufacturer Hawaiian Host, which relies on automation solutions from Rockwell Automation.
Nowadays, products are offered in various packaging sizes and formats. This presents manufacturers with challenges, especially for secondary and tertiary packaging, as product types, product volumes and different formats require different packaging processes. In addition many end customers expect these multi-level functions from a single machine. Hawaiian Host, one of North America's leading confectionery manufacturers and the world's largest producer of chocolate-coated macadamia nuts, has set itself the goal of tackling these challenges in its packaging processes. The company commissioned the Italian packaging machine manufacturer Cama Group with the Development of an automation solution for the primary packaging of its macadamia products. Of interest to Hawaiian Host was a step-by-step approach to automation to set the team up for success while overcoming the specific challenges of manufacturing chocolate products in Hawaii.
Sensitive chocolate products carefully and quickly packaged
The Cama team worked with Hawaiian Host Group to develop a solution using Rockwell Automation technology that maximises operations while offers a modular approach that supports the company in future product innovations. A line has been developed that is specially tailored to the individual challenges of packaging and has a digitalised control architecture from Rockwell Automation at its core.
In operation, Delta robots take - taking into account quality, shape and position information, The chocolates are picked up from the infeed conveyor by specially developed grippers and placed in trays made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which come in parallel from a denester. After filling, individual trays - or pairs of trays with a padding sheet as an intermediate layer - are loaded into cardboard trays before the lids are moulded and fitted. The end results are finished boxes containing four to 32 chocolates. The line is also suitable for bulk packaging, where robots load the chocolates directly into boxes. It can also be used as a fallback solution in the event of problems with the production line. This prevents considerable downtime. At the end of the process, the boxes are x-rayed and transported to a box packer at the end of the line.
Foundation for scalable digital transformation
For the packaging of Hawaiian Host's chocolate products, the Cama Group opted for various components from Rockwell Automation. The Programmable automation control ControlLogix 5580 with integrated safety, POINT I/O and the Kinetix 5700 and Kinetix 5300 servo drives are used. Stratix 5700 switches, PanelView Plus 7 operator interfaces and PowerFlex 525 frequency inverters are also used.
Partnerships are crucial in projects of this kind - to develop the initial concepts and then to make the package a success. In this case, too, the close collaboration between the companies involved was decisive in ensuring that Hawaiian Host now has an automation architecture that processing multiple packs on a single machine with minimal downtime between batches supported. In addition, the company has now created a scalable automation basis for growth and continued digital transformation. The electronic architecture also underpins the augmented reality (AR) approach promoted by Industry 4.0, which is used for training, retooling and maintenance, for example. AR not only inspires and engages staff, but also makes machine operation more efficient.
