New Packaging Equipment: February 2022
New and updated tray handing equipment that performs automated or semi-automated loading of bakery and snack products into trays and baskets, as well as handles bakery trays, baskets, and other reusable distribution containers for finished products, has grown increasingly sophisticated.
Company: Apex Motion Control
Website: https://apexmotion.com/
Equipment Snapshot: Apex Motion Control offers the Baker-Bot Cobot (collaborative robot) for tray handling. Designed to help bakers automate repetitive tasks, the system can load and unload trays and racks via conveyor from single- or double-rack setups. When using a double-rack setup, the lower part of the frame has an auto lock and unlock feature that is automatically activated when the rack is empty or full.
Company: Benchmark
Website: www.benchmarkusainc.com
Equipment Snapshot: Benchmark, a ProMach company, offers a tray handling and loading system for finished products such as crackers or cookies. It involves the creation of slugs of products, which are loaded into plastic trays and typically overwrapped. The automatic tray handler delivers precise slug loading from the discharge of a two- or four-lane sandwiching machine, or a distribution system that shingles and coin stacks product before automatically loading the slugs into trays.
Company: Colborne Foodbotics LLC
Website: https://colbornefoodbotics.com/
Equipment Snapshot: Colborne Foodbotics LLC recently developed robotic tray sortation technology that reduces the number of employees needed to unload random stacks from incoming trucks and deliver the stacks to the company’s laser-guided sortation systems. The Robotic Sortation System can read the style and color of individual trays in the stack and sort them to “like” trays for storage.
Company: Douglas Machines Corp.
Website: www.dougmac.com
Equipment Snapshot: Douglas Machines Corp. offers conveyorized tunnel washers for trays, baskets and pans. Designed to be operated by one or two people, the systems eliminate hand washing, reduce labor requirements and reduce downtime. They help reduce the microorganisms on surfaces by washing and sanitizing items that may be in constant use in processing plants.
Company: EndFlex
Website: www.endflex.com
Equipment Snapshot: EndFlex, part of the Paxiom Group, offers pick-and-place and palletizing machines that are frequently used together to place bags, cartons, and containers of snacks and bakery items into trays and cases prior to loading onto pallets for shipping.
Company: Rexfab
Website: https://rexfab.com/en/
Equipment Snapshot: Rexfab specializes in automated basket systems designed for commercial bakeries. These systems integrate and automate all facets of distributing, loading, stacking, palletizing, and sanitizing baskets. They include the Empty Basket Distribution System, the SRP Pack Basket Loader, and the company’s Trash Dump or Rotary Trash Dump.