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A new top-loading packaging machine from Cama Group is increasing productivity and reducing machinery footprint in the multipack market.
For more than 40 years, Italian secondary-packaging machine producer Cama Group has remained at the forefront of robotics and automation to fulfil its aim of designing, engineering, and building packaging machines that respond to their customers’ needs and fit seamlessly into their production lines.
Utilising their industry experience, Cama Group’s team of engineers custom craft advanced packaging machines for a huge variety of products – from pet food to coffee capsules. These machines can be built as a single unit, or as a fully integrated element of a complete production line.
While these machines have progressively become smarter, faster, and smaller over time, there’s one section of the industry that’s constantly challenged packing efficiency: multipacks.
In an era in which consumers crave variety, the multipack is king. It is an everyday item to the average consumer, yet for producers wanting to use automated packaging machines to present a box with an assortment of different flavours or types of a single product, it can be a headache in production line efficiency.
“We were aware of an emerging interest in variety packs from consumers, especially in the coffee capsule packaging market for which Cama Group is an industry leader,” says Alessandro Rocca, Cama Group Sales Director.
According to Rocca, most existing machines that box variety packs perform better when located off the production line. This is because missing products not fulfilled from the feeding stations – a common occurrence when products aren’t available due to fluctuations in production rate – are often compensated for. In these cases, removing the packing stage from the production line reduces the risk of incomplete boxes leaving the factory. However, it not only makes the process inefficient but increases the machinery footprint on the factory floor.
The team at Cama Group were eager to remedy this issue and create a packaging machine for the food industry that could fulfil multipacks and be integrated into the one line. After years of research and development, their solution is the Monoblock Top Loading (MTL) system, which they developed in collaboration with machine and factory automation specialists B&R.
“The MTL is a flexible, modular system that makes packaging variety boxes much more efficient,” says Rocca.
“Following the standard robotic formation of the boxes, each one is placed in a single magnetic carrier, which moves around the circular track system independently. This means each box can move at its own speed and be placed in different loading areas of the track to be filled with the correct combination of products. Previous models had a vertical system which meant products could only be loaded from one position, yet this circular model enables the robotic arms to fill boxes from several different locations. Boxes can even be ‘parked’ while the robot waits for a product to be ready for packing.”
This unique setup optimises workflow and ensures boxes are packed correctly before they continue along the production line. The MTL can serve three or more upstreams of feeds for similar products at any one time, and can add separator layers between variations.
Image: Cama Group
“The solution decouples the process stations, optimising the flow of products and cycle times. Processing times are also enhanced and the control panel simplified, making commissioning and maintenance quicker and easier,” Rocca says.
The technology uses augmented reality to access maintenance, changeover, and spare parts, which can be ordered directly via a tablet or by enabling predictive maintenance. According to Rocca, this requires less human intervention, thereby reducing the potential for error.
“Remarkably, this solution also saves time, cutting the changeover time of products from 30 to 12 minutes. Our technologies offer real added value, while our approach is holistic and customer focused,” he says.
The circular formation of the track also means more boxes can be filled in a smaller space, resulting in a reduced line length and footprint. In a traditional machine, the box-forming and lid-closing robots are located at opposite ends of the line. The carousel format of the MTL, however, results in them facing each other, with the circular track in between.
“This spherical setup reduces the footprint by around 30 per cent,” says Rocca.
The Cama Group team believe the MTL is a fantastic option for coffee roasters looking to package different capsule blends or drinks within one box. According to Rocca, typical coffee capsule packaging machines are kept off line and require three bulk feeders (one for each flavour). This requires the capsules to be produced, stored, and loaded into bulk feeders rather than being part of one continuous line.
“The MTL can pack up to 1800 products per minute, which is around 75 boxes,” says Rocca.
Each MTL is tailor made to individual customers’ needs. The concept of the machine remains the same, but the layout and number of feeds can be customised and easily integrated into a current line.
“Each product needs its own carrying system, so that is bespoke designed by our technical department in collaboration with the customer. From the first meeting to the final delivery, the process is around four to six months,” says Rocca.
Cama Group is not only able to help with the production line machinery but also has a packaging department to provide consultancy and advice, which can help customers develop cartons to best accommodate the machine technology.
“This is particularly helpful with new projects, where both the packaging and the factory is novel. We also work with them to make the packaging as sustainable as possible, and can look at reducing materials and choosing recyclable options,” Rocca says.
Sustainability is an important issue for Cama Group, and the new MTL machine has a number of energy-saving features including increased monitoring of the compressor.
“Once the project is complete, we provide a very professional international aftersales service, which ensures the machines continue to run smoothly once they’ve been installed,” says Rocca.
For more information, visit camagroup.com
This article was first published in the July/August 2024 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
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