B&R automating packaging lines with its key technologies

December 15, 2014 12:42 pm

“With hardware product portfolio and integrated software platform, B&R has successfully automated packaging lines with key technologies.”
 B&R Automation, being a well known name in automation field, is blazing a trail of innovation in the pursuit of solutions that focus on meeting its customers’ requirements – setting new standards in productivity, energy efficiency, flexibility and maintenance along the way. Mr Padwal talks about curent scenario and solutions offered by the company.
Industry status When it comes to current status, one thing is clear that automation is now integral part of Indian packaging industry. It has been observed that in the consumer packaged goods industry, a product’s packaging plays a crucial role in its success. At the heart of this evolution is the rapidly changing lifestyle of aspiring Indian consumers and need to align product quality to global level.
For quite a sometime there is an all-around understanding about the solutions offered by automation like increased throughput of the machines, improvement in the product quality, better working conditions for operators. It can be said that demand for technology is at high.
“Price of the automation systems have declined in last decade which is driving the growth of the programmable controllers, intuitive touch panels, and servo based motion system in the packaging machines and process equipment,” explains Mr Padwal. “In fact, there is some level of confusion amongst the machine builders as to how sophisticated their machine should be and what level of customisation should be accepted to cater different demands from various brand owners.”
B&R offerings B&R offers solutions for highly flexible packaging machines at the same time striking a balance between technical demands and economic feasibility. Packaging lines automated by B&R get all the benefits of state-of-the-art motion control, robotics, displays, safety, image processing and IT connectivity.
A broad commitment to international standards allows B&R to vertically integrate packaging machines and packaging lines with MES and ERP systems. Developments such as PackML improve OEE calculation, while open and independent protocols like POWERLINK, openSAFETY, OPC UA and contribute to increased performance and future-proof compliance to standards such as ISA-88 Part 5 and FDA CFR 21 Part 11.
“With hardware product portfolio and integrated software platform, B&R has successfully automated packaging lines with key technologies like registration mark control, winding technology, on-the-fly cutting, integrated vision system, pick and place and robotics,” informs Mr Padwal.
B&R also offers its Scalability+ programme which helps take scalability to a new level – allowing automation solutions to be tailored to machine requirements with greater efficiency and freedom than ever before.
reACTION technology“In our dedicated packaging portal, we present an impressive range of advanced solutions that cover the full breadth and depth of requirements faced by our partners in the packaging industry, from primary and secondary packaging through to end-of-line solutions,” adds Mr Padwal.
With the advanced reACTION technology, B&R has reduced the response times for industrial automation down to 1 µs. Primary packaging is the most challenging task in the packaging industry. In these machines, the packaging material meets the product at the highest possible speed; as a result, the level of precision has a direct influence on both product quality and the usage of raw materials. Gravimetric and volumetric filling processes in liquid filling machines, for example, can take advantage of reACTION technology to operate valves and sensors with an unrivaled precision of 1 µs. Other high-speed packaging machine functions like code stamping and bad product rejection can combine B&R’s reACTION and NetTime technologies to synchronise motion control and distributed I/O to achieve absolute precision.