Page 47 - Plastics News Issue March 2024

FEATURE

performance materials which capture of engineering at Seattle, US-based inspection and detection systems:
lightweighting, accelerate production packaging automations business Sum- “Automatic in-line detection of defec-
speeds and maintain strength, from mit Packaging, collaborative robots tive seals is important for both [prod-
paper to plastics to biomaterials,” he (or ‘cobots’) were the “number one uct] safety and production automa-
told Packaging Gateway. trend in packaging automation” in tion in packaging,” Van Cauter told
As an example of this, US-headquar- 2023. Packaging Gateway.
tered ecommerce giant Amazon an- These industrial robots are designed “Many customers that are automating
nounced in October (2023) that it to work safely alongside humans in a their production processes need au-
had launched “first-of-its-kind” auto- shared workspace. This distinguishes tomated in-line inspection [as well] to
mated packing technology – initially at them from traditional industrial ro- eliminate manual labour [completely]
its UK and German fulfilment centres bots, “which operate behind safety and guarantee product quality at the
– that uses in-built sensors to cut spe- barriers to prevent any human con- best production speed,” he said.
cially developed paper packaging ac- tact”, Stewart explained. Mills believes that 3D printing, which
cording to the size of the item to be Because cobots are equipped with ad- can be a fully automated function us-
delivered. vanced sensors and software, which ing data fed into software that then in-
The paper used to package Amazon’s allow them to detect and respond structs printers to produce products
deliveries is light but durable, stretchy to human presence, they reduce the to exact specifications, and which can
and more weather resistant than reg- reduce the risk of injury to humans allow for last minute ‘personalisation’
ular paper. while performing multiple tasks, such of packaging component, is likely to
It can also be heat-sealed like plastic as packing products into boxes, pal- be one of the next big evolutionary
but is “easily” recyclable. Amazon letising products, picking and placing steps for packaging automation.
said the paper was purposely created products and assembling them. Such systems could be enhanced by
by Amazon’s material scientists for its In terms of packaging innovation, pro- artificial intelligence (AI), whose po-
automated machines to use. ponents of cobots, such as Västerås, tential for boosting packaging automa-
According to the company, by packing Sweden-headquartered machine tion has been widely touted, particu-
items in 100% recyclable light paper manufacturer ABB say these machines larly its ability to automate packaging
packaging, which is made-to-fit with- can extend the benefits of automation design, spot defects in production
out the need for padding, these auto- to heavy industry packaging applica- lines, and helping to optimise produc-
mated packing machines help reduce tions. tion lines and improve recycling rates.
the weight of packaging per shipment Last June (2023), ABB launched two UK consumer goods conglomerate
by around 26 grams, on average – re- new variants of its popular GoFa co- Unilever recently announced that,
ducing transport costs and waste. bot – the GoFa 10 and GoFa 12 – de- together with Chinese e-commerce
Mills also cited the advent of robotics signed for industrial packaging appli- giant Alibaba, it has created recycling
in packaging production lines as a sig- cations, automating demanding tasks machines that use artificial AI to auto-
nificant step forward in streamlining such as machine tending, welding, matically identify and sort waste plas-
the progress of packaging evolution. parts handling, polishing and assembly. tic packaging for recycling in China, as
Although robots have been in use in As well as production efficiencies, well as optimise designs of some of
factories for decades, the arrival of cost-savings and accuracy benefits, its products sold in plastic bottles to
smarter, more compact robotic so- packaging companies are also looking make them more sustainable.
lutions speed-up packaging systems, to automation to solve quality and se- The company has also partnered with
add flexibility and reduce mistakes curity issues. Denmark-based accessibility app spe-
caused by human error. According to Renaat Van Cauter, mar- cialist Be My Eyes, which creates AI-
Meanwhile, automated ‘in line’ manu- keting director at Engilico, a Belgian enabled mobile phone-based applica-
facturing has enabled production to company specialising in in-line sealing tions for visually impaired people, to
move away from factory production inspection and monitoring technology trial ways of helping blind or low-sited
lines, customising and localising pack- for packaging in the food, pet care and customers to interact with its packag-
aging lines to customer premises. other industries, automated packag- ing – recognising products, reading
According to Daniel Stewart, director ing processes only achieve their full ingredients and following preparation
potential if they also have automated instructions.
PLASTICS NEWS 49
March 2024