Task:
SIMLOGIC has been helping two customers in completely different industries make significant advances in their production processes. A dairy products manufacturing company, wanted to automate its palletising operation for yoghurt, while the second, a primary metals manufacturer, was looking to automate the charging and temperature monitoring of its furnaces.
Solution:
SIMLOGIC developed solutions based on FANUC robots for both applications. For the dairy producer, a FANUC M-410 four-axis industrial robot palletises plastic crates containing yoghurt products at end of two separate lines. At the metals manufacturer, a FANUC R-2000iC/210L industrial robot feeds cathode-zinc plate packages into the furnaces as and when required.
Result:
At the dairy plant, the FANUC M-410 palletises crates coming from production lines with a capacity of 720 crates per hour, with various palletisation options according to the operator selection. Аt the metals producer the FANUC R-2000iC/210L now lifts totalling around 100 tonnes in zinc plates in a 24-hour period, minimising the need for manual labour in the dangerous furnace area of the plant.
Robotisation makes production competitive and future-proof
SIMLOGIC Ltd is a company with vast experience in the automation of discrete and continuous production processes for various industries such as oil refining, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, metallurgy and others. In developing its objectives for the automation of production processes, SIMLOGIC focuses on the construction of robotic lines for palletising and materials handling, and has completed significant number of successful projects domestic and abroad. The company’s manager, Mr Plamen Penev, shares the production advantages available to customers after the implementation of robotic solutions.
"In order to increase their efficiency and competitiveness, Bulgarian companies are increasingly turning to the robotisation of production,” he says. “To realise such large-scale and complex projects, a strictly bespoke approach is needed for the design and development of a complete solution by specialized engineering companies such as ours."
For the needs of ELVI Ltd, a dairy products manufacturer, SIMLOGIC designed and developed a robotic installation for palletising plastic crates containing yogurt.
Says Mr. Penev: "The automated line is based on a FANUC M-410 four-axis industrial robot with a load capacity of 315 kg, which palletises finished products coming from two separate lines. We developed a special gripper for picking up four crates at the same time, with its main structural elements and details designed, manufactured and assembled by our team."
The capacity of the two production lines is approximately 720 crates per hour. Importantly, the installation has the ability to palletise boxes according to operator request: from two lines on the same pallet; from one line on two pallets; or from each line on to its own corresponding pallet.
An industrial controller provides overall system control, with an industrial touchscreen display facilitating the actual setting of parameters for palletising. The panel visuals are entirely in Bulgarian language – developed by SIMLOGIC especially for this application. As a future extension of the system, ELVI would like the industrial robot to place empty pallets in a specified positions.
Another interesting project has seen SIMLOGIC develop an automation solution involving furnaces at KCM, a primary metals manufacturer that processes non-ferrous and precious metals. The system is based on a FANUC R-2000iC/210L industrial robot.
"The robot simultaneously charges two furnaces by feeding specific cathode-zinc plate packages as required into one or the other furnace,” explains Mr Penev. “Notably, the system automatically regulates the temperature and charge level in the furnaces, with the supplied quantities of zinc measured using an industrial scale. All data on the operation of the furnaces and the amount of material supplied is archived and displayed at the operator’s workstation."
Critically, the robotised system ensures minimal worker presence in the dangerous furnace area. Instead of staff, the FANUC R-2000iC/210L robot takes on all the heavy lifting of zinc plates, often handling loads totalling over 100 tonnes in a 24-hour period.
Watch Video
Watch Video
