Pepperidge Farm achieves breakthrough in cookie packaging

Citation

(2003), "Pepperidge Farm achieves breakthrough in cookie packaging", Industrial Robot, Vol. 30 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2003.04930eaf.007

Pepperidge Farm achieves breakthrough in cookie packaging

Pepperidge Farm achieves breakthrough in cookie packaging

Keywords: Food industry, Production

Though Pepperidge Farm, a division of Campbell Soup, Inc., has been a longtime user of robotics with over 85 in its production lines, most of their cookie products are still hand-placed in paper cups from moving conveyor belts. Between 8 and 12 people can pack approximately 800 cookies per minute. Increasing production meant increasing the conveyor speed, but that made it difficult for the employees to manually pick up the product.

Pepperidge Farm wanted to boost productivity and throughput, as well as reduce exposure to repetitive strain injuries. To accomplish this, they selected the ABB FlexPicker robots with AdeptVision controllers, the company's standard for controls and vision. SIG Pack Systems provided the system and the system integration.

Packaging capability increased 50 percent to 1,200 cookies per minute. Six rows of cookies come into the robot cells where they are then placed into the paper cookie cups. The system utilizes two lines, each with seven ABB FlexPickers capable of 130-150 pick/ min speed ranges. Each of the 14 robot arms is equipped with two cameras, one locating the product orientation and one for product color. The controller then determines the conveyor speed based on the product. Other components include cup de-nesting and a traveling carrier chain. An Allen-Bradley interface is used as the operator interface.

The 3.2 million dollar investment paid for itself in less than 3 years with more than a 20 percent internal rate of return. This innovative cookie packaging system earned Pepperidge Farm the prestigious Robots and Vision User Recognition Award in 2001, a biannual award sponsored by the Robotic Industries Association (RIA) and the Automated Imaging Association (AIA).