{"id":13952,"date":"2019-08-30T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T08:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/?p=13952"},"modified":"2019-08-29T10:20:09","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T09:20:09","slug":"improving-tube-packing-efficiency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/improving-tube-packing-efficiency\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving tube packing efficiency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cerulean, a manufacturer of tube packing solutions, has collaborated with industrial automation specialist Festo<\/a><\/strong> to simplify the design of its FPS-1 tube packer to deliver an improved, more energy efficient, and future-proof packing solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally tubes of product for personal care, such as cosmetics, suncream and toothpaste, can be difficult to stack as they are light weight and cap heavy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition between batches of tubes being completed and entering the packing stage requires either a large-scale, bespoke automation solution or hand packing into cartons by multiple production workers, which is both labour intensive and less hygienic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pausing production inevitably leads to inefficiencies and disruption of the production line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cerulean was looking to upgrade its system to simplify this transition in a continuous production and high-speed environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Cerulean enquired about Festo\u2019s latest components and capabilities, we took the opportunity to ask what they wanted their packing machines to be capable of in the medium to long term,\u201d said Josh Roberts, Festo Business Development Consultant. \u201cIt quickly became clear that we could work in partnership to make significant improvements to the FPS-1 system: not only in terms of pneumatic efficiency, but also to make it Industry 4.0 ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Festo developed a new design concept for the FPS-1 packer by conducting an air analysis of the existing and concept machines to prove the theoretical design. This project was also Cerulean\u2019s first utilisation of a new third-party PLC and Festo provided integration support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cerulean solution is based on standard Festo components \u2013 including VOFA Performance Level D safety valves, MS air preparation and the CPX controller \u2013 which makes it particularly reliable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorporation of Festo\u2019s CPX controller over EtherCat ensures that the tube packer has a platform which can accommodate I4.0 enabled products in future, so the upgraded system is fully forwards compatible. This provides reassurance to end-users that the tube packer represents a good long-term investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The automation and pneumatic upgrades to the tube packer are designed as two kits: a valve control kit and an actuator kit. Each kit has the same footprint as the equipment it is intended to replace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each kit has its own unique order number \u2013 eliminating the need to order multiple components \u2013 and is supplied fully assembled and ready to install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe simple kit design makes upgrading and servicing as simple as possible for Cerulean and its customers,\u201d explains Josh.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improved performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The existing FPS-1 machine bulk-packed tubes in a range of sizes, from 10-60mm in diameter and 50-300mm in length. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Festo\u2019s automation and pneumatic upgrades save time and cost during service and maintenance, as well as improving the packing machine\u2019s performance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now, the upgraded system \u2013 which is called the FPS-300s \u2013 can pack tube sizes with a wider range at up to 300 units\/min and pack up to 28,800 more tubes over a 24-hour period than was previously possible. The improved system also uses five per cent less energy than its predecessor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The packing process is now fully automated, which results in less time and less cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Festo\u2019s pneumatics allow the FPS-300s to introduce the correctly sized standard carton and to push a layer of tubes into place without any human intervention. Then pneumatic grippers release the carton and allow it to fall to the next level so filling and packing can continue uninterrupted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the carton is full, it is lifted onto an overhead conveyor and taken on for palletising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFesto demonstrated its expertise from the outset by asking pertinent questions, proving it was more than just a supplier of quality components. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a leading exponent of Industry 4.0 and high-performance pneumatics, Festo brought together the expertise that Cerulean needed to inform the new design. The resulting improvements in capacity, efficiency and simplicity will deliver genuine benefits to anyone using our FPS-300s tube packing system,\u201d concludes Shaun Toms, Portfolio Manager of Cerulean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cerulean, a manufacturer of tube packing solutions, has collaborated with industrial automation specialist Festo to simplify the design of its FPS-1 tube packer to deliver an improved, more energy efficient, and future-proof packing solution.\u00a0 Traditionally tubes of product for personal care, such as cosmetics, suncream and toothpaste, can be difficult to stack as they are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7082,2018,7084,7083],"class_list":["post-13952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-process","tag-cerulean","tag-festo","tag-fps-1-tube-packer","tag-tube-packing"],"yoast_head":"\nImproving tube packing efficiency - Engineer News Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cerulean has collaborated with industrial automation specialist Festo to simplify the design of its FPS-1 tube packer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.engineernewsnetwork.com\/blog\/improving-tube-packing-efficiency\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Improving tube packing efficiency - 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