Robotic pot swap loader for mixed food trays

The manual process of putting together mixed chilled product trays has now been automated by Fanuc in collaboration with Pacepacker Services, using a robotic pot swap tray loading system.

Swapping pots between cardboard trays, the robotic pick and place unit combines Fanuc’s LR Mate200iD robot with Pacepacker’s new Mixed Tray Loader (MTL) technology.

Developed initially for an own-label dip producer as an offline cartesian pick-and-place system, the robotic configuration gives food suppliers far greater flexibility owing to the freedom of movement afforded by a robot arm, which can pick up pots from multiple conveyor lines.

It provides a flexible and compact solution for generating the assorted trays of product that are increasingly being requested by retailers, in particular smaller local convenience stores and delicatessens.

Another trend driving orders of mixed product trays is most grocery stores today don’t have expansive stockrooms, therefore they require deliveries little and often.

Contact Fanuc for more information.