Launching just months before the first Covid-19 lockdown, Endoline Robotics Managing Director Andrew Yates reflects on how their new automated case packing and palletising operation has secured multi-million pound orders in such a short timeframe and increased turnover tenfold in under two years.

Andrew also divulges the market drivers that saw the company pivot their automation strategy from ‘plug and play’ palletising systems to high-spec turnkey lines.

The shift in strategy resulted in Endoline Robotics winning in the ‘Best New or Small Company’ category at the Robotics & Automation Awards earlier this year.

The decision to launch Endoline Robotics was underpinned by its parent company’s strong 40-year history in automated case erecting and sealing systems installed by global manufacturers. Backed by robust market intelligence that demand for end-of-line automated palletising systems was on the cusp of a huge growth trajectory, it rapidly became apparent to Endoline’s leadership team that customers were seeking more than just a well-supported robot palletiser. To corroborate this, enquires for a complete premium package connecting upstream packing operations with automated downstream palletising began to roll in.

Leveraging Endoline’s in-house technical design and engineering expertise and strong OEM partnerships, ERL realigned its strategy. As soon as the lockdown restrictions lifted, the business secured several credible leads to engineer complex, high-value full turnkey automation projects.

Andrew recounts: “For virtually two years, automation enquires virtually dried up and investments were put on pause. Meetings and demonstrations switched to virtual platforms. Visits to essential manufacturers were minimised.”

However, as a supplier of equipment to essential businesses, the palletising start-up was well-placed to react to leads and design connected, automated systems that would strengthen UK manufacturing and increase productivity.

Responding to retail demands

The scope of product applications Endoline Robotics has delivered solutions for – from pet food to flour, cereals to nuts and bolts – showcases the variety of customised palletising robotic payloads, interoperability, safety standards and compact footprints that these innovative turnkey designs can accommodate.

Every automated installation to-date has delivered significant labour savings. Enabling manufacturers to relocate workers to more value-enhancing tasks.

Carr’s Flour Mills was the first project to go live. Responding to the ‘Home Baking’ boom, Carr’s needed to process and palletise 167,000 bags of flour weekly. Running 24/7, Carr’s doubled its production for one major supermarket chain, from 120 to 250 tonnes per week.

“We had always planned to automate the line. Constrained by the manual process, Endoline’s robotic solution has enabled us to redeploy eight workers to other, more skilled areas of the business. Quality and efficiency has improved, and we now have greater flexibility to increase productivity for our customers,” comments Carr’s Operations Director Ben Clark.

Making history

Valued at over £2.5 million, the installation in May 2023 at Life Health Foods marked a pivotal turning point for automated palletising in the UK. It was also the biggest and most complex order in Endoline’s history.

In 12-months, the team designed and installed a fully-operational start-to pallet cell comprising three Fanuc M410 palletising robots, over 250 metres of straight, spiral and overhead conveyor, integrated with a centralised ERP system. Notably, palletising was relocated from the clean production space to the Peterborough plants’ adjacent warehouse located over 140 metres away.

All of this was done without increasing the physical footprint. What’s more, the switch from manual palletising to fully automating the handling of 100 different SKUs and product cases, was delivered without shutting production down.

Now fully operational, LHF now the increased capacity to palletise 86,000 individual product cases every 24-hours.

Group HSE Manager at Life Health Foods (UK) Jon Edgley enthuses: “This fully automated palletising turnkey line has increased the versatility for our busy plant. We have already observed that staff morale is higher, labour costs are down, line speeds improved, and palletising errors eliminated.  There are also significant workforce health & safety and stock control benefits.”

Testament to the accelerated drive towards smart, fully-automated production facilities in the UK, Andrew reports: “Endoline Robotics has delivered five high value systems in a short timeframe, each of which meets a very specific customer need. For an SME, this is quite unprecedented. Yet, this validates the appetite among UK manufacturers for customised, modular automation systems that can be integrated into existing manufacturing lines and serviced and supported locally – without disrupting production.”

 

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It is the largest and most innovative installation in Endoline Automation’s 42-year history. Valued at over £2.5 million, it is also the biggest order since Endoline Robotics launched at PPMA 2019. For Life Health Foods located in Peterborough, doubling production output has delivered transformational business benefits.

 

In May 2023, the Endoline Robotics team installed the fully operational start-to-pallet cell at Life Health Foods. Segregating clean food processing from warehouse palletising, the turnkey design addressed every production, safety, traceability and warehouse logistics productivity pain point.

This investment by Life Health Foods has delivered the capacity to process, palletise, wrap and rack 86,000 product cases every 24 hours. Enabling the cereal producer to seamlessly switch from manual palletising while simultaneously eliminating human labelling and palletising errors and boosting staff morale.

The installation comprises three Fanuc M410 palletising robots, over 250 metres of straight, spiral and overhead conveyor, integrated with a centralised ERP system. The greatest logistical challenge was relocating palletising from the clean production space to the adjacent warehouse located over 90 metres away.

All of this was done without increasing the physical footprint. What’s more, the switch from manual palletising to fully automating the handling of 100 different SKUs and product cases, was delivered without shutting production down.

Group HSE Manager at Life Health Foods (UK) Jon Edgley enthuses: “This fully automated palletising turnkey line has increased the versatility for our busy plant. We have already observed that staff morale is higher, labour costs are down, line speeds improved, and palletising errors eliminated.  There are also significant workforce health & safety and stock control benefits.”

Ergonomic and efficient

Integrating products from five major OEMs, 86,000 cereal cases destined for Aldi, Asda, Booths, Coop, Dansk, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Musgroves, Sainsburys and Tesco, are now transported daily from production to palletising, with minimal human intervention.

Working within the existing warehouse footprint, Endoline Robotics designed the entire configuration, including the special 90- metre long, 3.5 metre high overhead conveyor. By running it along the perimeter of the existing warehouse, rather than down the middle, the cereal producer was able to maintain its existing loading docks and delivery access points. The elevated height ensures forklift operatives have full ground clearance, mitigating safety and collision risks.

From the 11 cereal packing lines, product cases are labelled by one of eight GSI1- compliant Markem-Image 2200 print and apply label systems. Using Endoline’s ERP software, all of the label and case information is fed into Life Health Foods SAP system, relaying in real time to the palletising sorting sensors exactly what’s in every box, the manufacturing time and pallet destination.

“This provides the SEDEX plant with additional reporting and data assurance as the print and apply case labelling machines are connected to the centralised ERP and SAP software systems, plus the robot palletisers,” highlights UK sales manager Suraj Patel.

Without interruption, 11 AmbaFlex spiral conveyors featuring Interroll rollers transport each labelled product case up onto the overhead conveyor. Sensors on the Intralox Switch conveyor assembles, sorts and ensures the correct case is delivered to the correct palletising cell. Cases that don’t have an assigned palletising line are segregated into a safe holding space.

The palletising operation is equally streamlined and compact. To maintain the small footprint and without losing any of the existing racking space, Endoline Robotics located the palletising cells in the warehouse corner. Here, five automatic Endoline pallet destackers feed empty pallets to the three Fanuc M-410-ic robots when the signal is issued.

Serving two pallet lines simultaneously, the Fanuc palletising robots stack up to seven cases a time onto the right product pallet in the correct palletising pattern. A paper top sheet is placed between each layer.

A caged shuttle moves the full pallets inside the cell for stretch wrapping. Operatives then collect and move the wrapped pallets onto the racking using forklifts.

To meet production and workforce safety standards, the complete palletising operation is contained within a guarded enclosure incorporating physical safety fencing, interlocked doors, and light curtains on all openings.

Automation advocates

The entire team has been hugely complimentary about the new installation. In particular it has helped with staff morale, especially the retained warehouse team.

Previously palletising manually, Jon comments “The entire process from production to palletising is noticeably more efficient and streamlined. Encouraging the input from staff was especially valued. From sharing viewpoints when Endoline Robotics was scoping out the design, to now having the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day maintenance of the cells has given everyone in the team a real boost. We’ve all enjoyed learning new skills and understanding how all of the different automation and software elements come together.”

Site production manager Jon adds: “In terms of footprint, Endoline’s ability to accommodate our existing format in such an innovative way means that we are now fully utilising every inch of space in a smarter, more productive way. The ERP reporting system especially helps us to red flag any quality and stock issues and proactively address packing to palletising bottlenecks before they become an issue.”

This investment, affirms Jon, is integral to the plant’s long-term ambition of full upstream automation. “Having seen the immediate productivity benefits from the end-of-line palletising cells, we are now eager to pull forward on our upstream automation, case sealing and packing investments.”

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We are pleased to announce we will have representatives from Endoline Robotics at Interpack 2023.

Interpack is the world’s largest and most important trade fair for the packaging sector and related process industries. With 2583 exhibitors from 55 countries, for packaging machinery, there’s simply nothing as big as interpack!

Showcasing the Delta 3000 Top Loading Case Packer at the forthcoming Interpack, Endoline Robotics (stand E34, Hall 8b) is set to demonstrate the benefits of automation, and the quick return on investment which can be achieved.

Like the company’s palletising systems, the first range launched under the Endoline Robotics division, each case packer is designed and built by Endoline to accommodate various packaging types: bottles, pillow packs, SRP packaging etc.

With a variable throughput speed depending on the application, the case packing systems can also be suited to match a product’s shape and orientation. As with all Endoline systems, the case packer is modular in design and can be fully integrated into existing production lines.

Each Endoline system can also be integrated into a manufacturer’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) to provide a turnkey operation with real-time data reporting capabilities. Through OEM partnerships, Endoline are also able to integrate additional elements into a line, including stretch wrapping, conveyoring and labelling systems making the line seamless and fully automated.

If you are visiting Interpack and would like to meet with us please send us an email to arrange an appointment.

Our UK Sales manager, Suraj Patel, discusses the progress of ERL since its launch and plans for the future of the company in the latest edition of Manufacturing & Engineering Magazine (MEM).

Looking at key developments since our launch in 2019, how business continued despite the pandemic and the process and solutions we offer from design to manufacture.

To read the full 2 page interview please visit https://www.memuk.org/latest-issue and go to page 60-61.

Fully integrated Endoline Robotics palletising operation increases efficiency for global supplier of precision products

A fully integrated, robotic palletising line, created and installed by Endoline Robotics, has automated a previously manually intensive operation for a global leader in the supply of precision fastening and assembly solutions, while increasing efficiency and making considerable time savings.

The company, who supplies products including screws, nuts, and bolts to worldwide distributors, hardware stores and retailers, was seeking a robotic palletiser for one of its production lines packing a range of different fasteners.

With different carton boxes running on the line, the customer required a solution which would not only automate the entire labelling and palletising process and create a uniform stack of carton boxes, but also work with an inspection system to ensure that the correct boxes are palletised, leaving no room for error.

As a strategic partner of FANUC, Endoline Robotics commissioned its 1003 palletising robot. Featuring a FANUC M-710C/70 arm, Endoline specified a bespoke mechanical gripper to be fitted onto the system to guarantee the reliable pick of every box.

Demonstrating its engineering capabilities, Endoline Robotics integrated a Markem Imaje Print & Apply system into the line along with a bar code reader, all of which was fitted with software to make the line work seamlessly together.

At the start of the line, Endoline installed a pallet de-stacker for automatic pallet positioning. A manual operator delivers 12 pallets at a time to a full pallet conveyor which is then fed to the de-stacker. The robotic palletiser sends a signal to the de-stack every time it needs a pallet, and, when the pallet stack is empty, the system requests a new stack to be loaded.

At the same time, the filled boxes are transported on a powered roller conveyor through the labelling system and the bar code reader which signals that the correct contents are to be palletised. Endoline integrated a stopper into the conveyor for consistent labelling and reading of every box as well as a rejection system to reject any products that shouldn’t be palletised. At this point, the waiting robotic palletiser lifts the box from the conveyor, onto a pallet.

When the palletising process is complete, the system delivers the finished pallet to the low level discharge conveyor.

Not only is the consistency of every pallet maintained, but Endoline also had to manage changes to the configuration of the stack when a new box size was introduced, rotating boxes 90 degrees for side-apply labelling. As Endoline Robotics’ UK Sales Manager, Suraj Patel, explains: “Two different box sizes were required to run on the line – a full size and a half size box. Boxes on the pallet need to be stacked so that the label was facing outward and, due to the size differences, the full size box was labelled on the shorter side, while the half size box was labelled on the longer side.”

The entire line has dramatically increased efficiency for the company and, due to the integrated software by Endoline, runs entirely self sufficiently without the need of human intervention.

Suraj concludes: “We are delighted that, through the installation of this line we have met and exceeded the customer’s objectives to increase efficiency and reduce the risk of manual errors, allowing the customer to redeployed employees to focus on less laborious tasks on the factory floor. The integration of all the equipment also ensures that every box is stacked neatly and contains exactly what is on the label.”

 “This installation is testament to the fact that Endoline Robotics, through our engineering capabilities and partnerships with FANUC and other OEM’s can create a bespoke, robotic solution which directly meets the needs of our customers.”