For sensitive products such as cookies, the journey from the oven all the way to the primary packaging machine can be quite a long and arduous one. The longer the transportation belt, the higher the risk for cookies to bump together and break. However, manufacturers can counteract product loss by investing in gentle handling solutions.
When handling crumbly cookies, biscuits and crackers, manufacturers can opt for one of two technologies or even combine them: pick-and-place technology or conveyor systems. Each of them is suitable for different tasks along the packaging line: while conveyor belt systems are often the technology of choice for distributing the product stream from the oven onto packaging legs, pick-and-place solutions are ideal for placing sensitive products from the transportation belt right into the primary or secondary packaging machine or onto the infeed belt of flow wrappers or vertical baggers. Seeing how many manufacturers also work as contractors, product and format changes are frequent and need to be performed efficiently to keep downtimes to a minimum. Both technologies cater to this need, as many pick-and-place solutions and conveyor systems are suited to handling a variety of different products and formats.
Reducing mechanical stress to a minimum during distribution
Before the cookies enter the packaging process via a conveyor band, they cool down on the cooling conveyor after leaving the oven. Right from the start, the cookies are prone to breaking and crumble easily, so gentle handling is of the utmost importance. Syntegon’s newest discharge station Distribution Continuous Slide (DCS) is a conveyor system that fits that bill. The modular discharge system consists of one or more stations that can be arranged one behind the other. Each is equipped with belt slides and runs entirely without format parts. The fragile cookies are neither dropped nor pushed, but simply slide over the system’s belts. This design minimizes mechanical stress and avoids product breakage and loss. In addition, it makes the system particularly flexible as it can process products of varying shapes and sizes. Changeovers can be performed with just a touch of a button.
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Ready for fluctuating output
The DCS is particularly suited for handling large quantities of products. The faster its belts move, the more cookies are distributed onto individual packaging legs. On the legs, an additional belt slide arranges the straight product stream into an S-shape. This ensures that the cookies and crackers are evenly distributed across the entire width of the belt, preventing them from wedging or overlapping – and breaking. Since the probability of breakage increases as more cookies accumulate on the belts, the DCS counteracts product loss by increasing the discharge capacity of individual stations if needed. In case of fluctuating production volumes, the system is able to automatically increase its storage capacity and discharge fewer products onto the overloaded packaging leg. At the same time, it distributes the product surplus to the following stations. All legs can continue to operate continuously – until the product storage is empty and the product build-up has been safely processed.
integrated linear motor technology has proven particularly gentle, both in robotic solutions as well as in transportation belts.”
Syntegon specialists
Robots lending a hand in handling and packaging
After the products have been distributed, robotic pick-and-place solutions are often the main protagonist in the next processing step. Equipped with specially developed End-of-Arm (EoA) tools, they either pick the cookies individually from the transportation belt and place them into the infeed of flow wrappers or vertical baggers or directly into trays. Additionally, they load already-wrapped products into cartons for secondary packaging. To keep up with consumers’ needs for different products and formats, pick-and-place solutions offer a high level of flexibility – operators can perform format changes within minutes, by switching out the EoA tool. Pick-and-place robots are then ready to process varying product sizes and shapes.
Specifically for cookie handling, integrated linear motor technology has proven particularly gentle both in robotic solutions as well as in transportation belts, Syntegon explains. With both technologies, the mover’s smooth and slow movements reduce mechanical stress on the cookies and prevent breakage and product loss. Additionally, they can be operated individually, ensuring highly precise handling processes. Integrated into infeed modules for flow wrappers, for example, linear motor technology performs exact portioning and increases the packaging line’s output when combined with smart acceleration. Once an individual infeed mover takes hold of a cookie or a grouped cookie stack such as a slug pack, it accelerates automatically and transports the products into the wrapper.
Most frequently, manufacturers opt for an application- and product-specific combination of conveyor systems, pick-and-place solutions as well as infeed modules that allow for maximum efficiency during cookie handling. Syntegon can provide support in realizing an operation’s full potential in terms of efficiency.
