Packaging´s latest trend: embedded robots

In many consumer goods enterprises, finished goods packaging operations are often the greatest bottleneck to new product introduction. Manufacturers spend a lot of money on packaging machinery, but most of the budget goes for specific product lines dedicated to a single purpose. With the ever-shortening cycle of new consumer product introductions, inflexible packaging machinery is now seen as a barrier in the production system. Integral robotics, which is now becoming the most effective means to add agility and flexibility. This offers rapid reconfiguration and expands the operating range of the individual machine. The key to this machine integration is the industrial programming environment provided by the IEC 61131 standard, which has been extended to include robot functionality with ELAU´s ´Robotic Library´.