Taylor包装机械进入中国市场.docVIP

Robots provide a crucial addition to the food-ingredient bagging operations at St. Louis-based ICL Performance Products’ plant in Lawrence, KS. The plant manufactures and packages sodium phosphate, primarily in the form of sodium pyrophosphate (SAPP), on a new turnkey robotic packaging system. The design, manufacture, and integration of the complete compact robotic packaging-palletizing system are provided by Taylor Products Div. of Magnum Systems (). The system runs the bag handling, filling, and palletizing operations. It’s part of a major expansion that includes processing operations mounted directly above the bag fillers; these comprise main-supply and infeed hoppers, along with milling and sizing equipment. The expansion is expected to provide a three-year payback. CLICK TO ENLARGE ? “From our standpoint, it’s much more than a packaging system,” offers ICL engineering manager Bret Graham. “We’ve basically installed an entirely new process, of which the packaging system is a central part.” The processing and packaging systems are seamlessly integrated. Done from a food safety standpoint, enclosed, integrated pneumatic product handling means that there’s virtually no product waste, says Graham. That’s apparent in the cleanliness of the operation, which makes it difficult to believe that a powdered product is packaged there at all. ? CLICK TO ENLARGE The new, 60-ft-long line has been in operation since early 2009. It runs 24 hours per day five days a week, packing multiple grades of SAPP into 50-lb multiwall paper bags. On occasion, the line packs 55-lb preprinted bags for export markets. ? The four-layer, valved bags have an inner lining of high-density polyethylene as a moisture barrier and a sealant. The bleached white bags are flexo-printed in two colors. The robots are the tactical part of a strategy to align ICL’s manufacturing sites with customer locations, according to Graham. The right choice This is also the first time robots have been used at the faci