KUKA robots in the food industry

Intelligent and flexible automation solutions play a significant role in overcoming the challenges of the food industry both quickly and profitably. Along with packaging machines with automatic format adjustment, highly efficient robots, in particular those equipped with camera systems, have long established themselves as the backbone of food production.

Bakery goods, meat and fish, animal food, dairy products, cheese – all foods and beverages require packaging. It protects the contents and informs the consumer. But above all, packaging must be eye-catching, designed to jump off the shelf and into shopping carts.

Packaging is decisive where product safety and consumer behavior are concerned. New packaging designs, ever shorter product cycles and an increasing diversity of variants pose growing challenges to food industry manufacturers.

KUKA provides robots for the entire food industry process chain

KUKA robots in the food industry stand for efficiency and speed.

The packaging of food now accounts for more than 40% of production costs. With rising labor costs, frequent sick leave resulting from monotonous motions, and costly compliance with hygiene regulations, manual packaging means an ever-growing cost pool in the process chain.

Help is at hand, for example, from the KR AGILUS sixx small robot in the Hygienic Machine variant: its easy-to-clean design enables operation in applications with direct contact with foodstuffs and pharmaceutical substances. Corrosion-resistant surfaces, food-compatible lubricants and stainless steel parts ensure the highest level of hygiene in sorting, palletizing and packing applications.

Here you can find an overview of KUKA case studies in the food industry.

Robots for every task –with payloads from 3 kg to 1,300 kg

Overview of the robot portfolio for the food industry.

  • KR AGILUS sixx
    The small robot series with unparalleled performance at the highest of speeds is also available as the Waterproof variant and the Hygienic Machine variant.
  • KR 16 series
    With its minimized disruptive contour and streamlined design, the KR 16 series saves valuable space and reaches any point, even in confined spaces.
  • KR CYBERTECH
    This series constitutes the world’s largest range of models in the low payload category – with the greatest power density. The CYBERTECH robots are ideally suited to space-saving cell concepts and provide top performance with low follow-up costs.
  • KR 30-3 and KR 60-3
    With payloads of up to 60 kilograms and a pose repeatability of +/- 0.08 mm, even heavy workpieces are handled precisely.
  • KR 40 PA
    Fast and precise: its 4-axis kinematic system enables the stacking of pallets to a height of 1.80 meters.
  • KR QUANTEC PA
    Maximum dynamic performance, extreme stiffness characteristics, performance combined with low weight – even in the fresh produce range between 0 °C and 5 °C (the QUANTEC series is also optionally available with food-compatible lubricants and as an Arctic variant).
  • KR 300-2 PA / KR 470-2 PA
    With their compact design and low weight, this series is ideally suited to the heavy-duty category.
  • KR 700 PA
    With its low weight and powerful motors and gear units, the KR 700 PA is a real high-speed champion among KUKA robots.
  • KR 1000 titan PA
    The world’s first robot for payloads up to 1,300 kilograms – with high dynamic performance and short cycle times

Palletizing robots for cold-storage rooms down to minus 30 degrees

No temperature fluctuations. No loss of quality. No formation of ice on the frozen goods. A real logistics pro doesn’t make compromises – not even in extreme situations down to minus 30 degrees Celsius. The KR QUANTEC PA arctic has been specially designed for palletizing in deep-freeze environments.

It works reliably in the freezing cold without a heating system, is extremely fast and requires no protective suit. This offers radical cost savings compared with conventional shrouded solutions. For example, no annual costs and downtime for exchange work are required. Furthermore, cost-intensive heat emissions in the cold storage depot are avoided as no heating is required.

No problem with low temperatures: the KR QUANTEC PA arctic.

Logistics expert in the food industry

Due to ever-increasing numbers of articles, rising costs and stricter legal requirements, the food industry is being forced to implement new, cost-optimized processes in the field of production logistics and warehouse logistics. For this, Swisslog offers flexible logistics systems that generate exact inventory and order forecasts and optimize throughput. Robots thus boost productivity in nearly all areas of application, reduce costs and play a key role in ensuring competitiveness.

We can help you to automate your task

With its network of specialized system partners, KUKA provides custom-tailored solutions for every requirement. Our robots carry out the loading and unloading of your packaging machines, not to mention cartoning, labeling, palletizing and order picking. They also improve efficiency early on in the processing stage.

 

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