Packing spuds: Pacepacker's multitasking Blu-Robot takes centre stage at new Preva Produce plant

摘要

A Pacepacker packing solution, which includes a versatile robot that can easily switch between bag and box palletising, has taken centre stage at Preva Produce's new highly efficient multimillion pound premium potato packing plant in Snetterton. The recent turnkey installation designed by Pacepacker, which bags and palletises salad potatoes in 10-25kg sacks for the wholesale food market, includes a C21 sack placer which places up to 10 sacks per minute onto a filling spout, a Total Bag Control (TBC) sack closing system which supports and guides a bag throughout the closing process, and a pre-owned Blu-Robot which is capable of palletising either boxes or bags of potatoes at the new site. The Blu-Robot has been fitted with suction cups as well as gripper arms so that it can easily switch between stacking sacks and boxes dependant on the product option selected from a preprogrammed list of recipes. "Within our budget constraints, we wanted a versatile robotic palletising system that would sit between a bagging line and a box packing line, which with little human intervention, would quickly switch between the two types of packing style dependent on current market demands," says Preva Produce managing director Ian Anderson. "At half the cost of a new system, Pacepacker's pre-owned Blu-Robot provided us with an affordable solution; we should see a return on our investment in just over three years."