Cobots
Renting makes you flexible
A short-term restructuring at the Unilever site in Heilbronn involved the maintenance of a large palletizing station. The company relied on cobots for support for the first time - for a period of one week in a practical rental model. It provided relief for employees, flexibility and other benefits.
"Active health management is very important to us," says Michael Schenk, explaining the first use of cobots in his company. He is a master industrial electronics technician at the Unilever-Knorr plant in Heilbronn and is responsible for technical issues within the company. "That's why we are fundamentally concerned with the topic of ergonomics, especially in the area of palletizing," he adds. Cobots were seen here as an opportunity to effectively relieve the strain on employees.
The introduction of a new stretcher meant that one of the plant's large automated palletizing stations had to be taken out of operation for a week. Although this was also used for maintenance, it meant that the finished packs now had to be palletized manually. Instead of relying on additional personnel, project engineer Thomas Bittner decided to use cobots for the first time in spring 2023. "At this point, we had already repeatedly considered the question of whether the use of cobots would pay off for us," he explains. "However, we hesitated for a long time because the monetary outlay involved was not insignificant. When we were made aware of Bayer's cobot rental model in connection with the planning for the introduction of the new stretcher, we seized the opportunity to test them live in operation and virtually risk-free".
Ergonomics and operational safety
Filling systems and cartoning machines are located in the area of the palletizing station in question. The packs produced here are sent to the central palletizing system via a conveyor belt and then to the high-bay warehouse as finished pallets. If there is a change to the automated process in this area, such as maintenance or the installation of a new machine, certain processes have to be carried out manually during this period. In this case, this meant that the containers had to be set down manually on some lines: The responsible employees pick up the packs, place them on the pallet and another employee transports them to the docking system using an electric ant, from where they are then taken to the high-bay warehouse. This manual work over an entire shift is strenuous, Bittner points out. "That's why it was important for us to use automation to reduce the workload. With the cobots, we have succeeded in doing this".
Bittner brought the automation specialists from Bayer in Wörnitz, Franconia, on board to implement the project. In addition to the currently unique offer to rent the cobots for a limited period, the decades of experience of the Bayer engineers in the automation sector and their geographical proximity were also decisive factors in the decision. "Especially for this first deployment of cobots, which work hand in hand with our team without a safety fence, it was important to us that the service provider could be with us within a very short time," says Bittner. In addition to ergonomics, the issue of operational safety is also of central importance at the Unilever plant in Heilbronn.
Unilever had no previous experience with cobots. Bayer therefore offered a video-based introduction and presented the safety criteria and standards for the use of cobots. The main focus was on the ISO 15066 guideline for safety requirements for collaborative industrial robot systems and the working environment. The Unilver safety department was involved in the project and informed about the functionality of the cobots at an early stage. The plant, division and production managers, shift coordinators and employees in the palletizing stations concerned all followed the project with great interest and, for the most part, even with enthusiasm. Nobody seemed to have any concerns that the cobot would take away their jobs, as it was clear that the machine would only take on unpleasant tasks. Four weeks after the order was placed, the cobots were able to start palletizing work in Heilbronn.
Klaus manages without compressed air
A total of two "Klaus" cobots from the manufacturer Yaskawa were installed at Unilever. Bayer also provided the racks for this on a rental basis. The packs are picked up by a robot gripper from a third-party supplier - a standard product that does not require compressed air and was immediately available. The installation was carried out at four filling stations and two case packers of the central palletizing system. While three-packs are assembled at one station, two-packs are assembled at the other. Work is normally carried out in three shifts, so the cobots took over the work of potentially six employees during the one-week shutdown of the palletizing system.
This article appeared in issue 10/23
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