Fold it, seal it, tape it, box it, pick it, place it — automate it. These are the separate processes that Finland-based Orfer Oy (orfer.fi) needed to automate to speed up its packaging operations. However, automating these processes without expanding factory floor space proved to be a challenging feat.
Orfer Oy recently opened a North American office in Toronto. The company engineers and manufactures robotic material-handling systems for a range of industries. However, for a new design of a fully automated packing machine targeting the food and packaging industries, Orfer needed a robot that offered fast and accurate handling and that could easily integrate with a vision system to track and pick parts from a moving conveyor.