Baking & Snack - October 2021 - 110

BASKETS & TRAYS
the bakery to know exactly where it is at any given moment.
" Lasers are very accurate and versatile, " he said. " You can
quickly and easily change routes by modifying the software
to create a new mission for the laser-guided vehicle without
having to add more wires or magnets into the floor. "
Recently, Mr. Mentch has been testing LGV technology
from its VEMAC division to determine how the vehicles
can pick up and move baskets full of bakery products.
" We're going to incorporate Key-Log, the Middleby
company that does gantry robots, and be able to deliver
the full stacks or create partial building of stacks, " Mr.
Mentch explained.
By incorporating data from pick-to-light and other
warehouse management systems, the LGVs and gantry roBasket
stacking
combined with
cobots allow bakers
to reduce overhead,
lighten workloads
and improve customer
service.
Apex Motion Control
cantly unstable and be a hazard to teammates nearby. So,
designing robust baskets that are less liable to have protruding
elements goes a long way to having a reliable basket
system. "
Mr. Painchaud said Rexfab uses lasers and other sensors
to identify broken baskets during the de-nesting process.
" We built up intelligence in that system so that you don't
end up with a stack that's like the Tower of Pisa in Italy, and
then hurt someone, " he said. " We developed solutions to
look at basket configurations downstream. "
Robots, cobots and lasers
Apex Motion Control uses its Baker-Bot, a collaborative robot
or cobot, to automatically move baskets from the packaging
department through warehousing.
" It always shows up for work, never gets hurt, never takes
breaks or goes on holidays, " Mr. Riis said. " It basically does
the dull, dangerous, dirty and repetitive, non-value-added
tasks like tray handling. "
Harpak-ULMA noted it offers cobots with highly advanced,
integrated safety capabilities that employ onboard
sensors to monitor for risk of operator collisions and act
to avoid them, thus allowing people to work next to them.
Using cobots not only improves deployment options, but
also eliminates the need for safety fences and interlocks.
The company also provides consistently reusable plastic
totes, or baskets, that are hygienic, easy to clean and resistant
to water and chemicals. Harpak-ULMA pointed out
that plastic totes have been shown to reduce product damage
by up to 96% while lowering costs by as much as 27%
through more efficient, reusable distribution processes.
Mr. Painchaud said Rexfab offers automated guided vehicles
(AGVs) and a dolly loader that can carry up to four
stacks of loaded baskets to the shipping docks.
Mr. Mentch pointed out that Middleby's installed AGVs
are guided by magnets or wires in the floor to transfer
troughs and pans. LGVs, however, rely on a laser on top of
the vehicle to see the targets strategically placed throughout
110 Baking & Snack October 2021 / www.bakingbusiness.com
bots will even build stacks consisting of multiple products.
" We're looking to take three baskets of Product A, four of
Product B, two more baskets of Product C and three more
of Product D, and then have the LGV pick up that stack
from the robot cell and deliver it to the truck dock as well, "
he said.
In some ways, he added, it's similar to what LGVs do for
Amazon and other state-of-the-art distributors.
" We'll get the information off the production line, and as
the basket stack is kicked out of the stacker, we know what
product it is, where we're shipping it to, and that will create
a mission for the LGV to pick up that stack and move it to
that specific truck dock to be loaded up on that truck, " Mr.
Mentch said.
LGVs also come with safety devices that indicate if
something, or someone, is blocking its pathway. Overall,
he noted, the number of LGVs needed will depend on how
many baskets of product a production line cranks out per
hour as well as how far the vehicles need to travel to the
docking area and back.
" It's all about cycle times, " Mr. Mentch pointed out.
" Typically, a bakery may need four to six LGVs for all of
their basket movement requirements. If you have more
than that, it could lead to the law of diminishing returns
whereas the LGVs will get in the way of one another. "
For bakeries, the future of the warehouse is rapidly
changing and becoming more user-friendly with easy-tonavigate,
app-based touch screens.
" Designing fun, intuitive and easier-to-use automation
is a constant goal of Apex Motion Control, " Mr. Riis said.
" One of the things we like to say is, 'If you can use a tablet
or a cell phone, you can use a Baker-Bot.' As a matter of
fact, a high percentage of our customers have named their
Baker-Bots, such as Lucy for Lucille Ball and Pikachu, a
Pokémon character. "
Bakers shouldn't allow the labor shortage in warehousing
to turn them into a basket case. That's because many solutions
are now available, and the future promises to bring
greater advances in automation, sooner rather than later.
*
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