Controls Tech isn't the only area of interest at PACK EXPO. Click the links that follow to read more about innovations in: Cartoning | Case and Tray Packing | Coding and Marking | Conveyors and Material Handling | Inspection and Detection | Labeling | Form/Fill/Seal | Food Processing & Packaging | Sustainable Packaging | Robotics | Pharma
To no one’s surprise the use of tablets—lightweight, portable, powerful—in programming and operating packaging machinery was a recurring theme at PACK EXPO Las Vegas. One good example was at the booth of Antares Vision Group, where a comprehensive, integrated production ecosystem called Diamind was introduced. This series of interconnected hardware and software systems operates at the line, factory, warehouse, enterprise, and supply chain levels to provide products with digital identities through manufacturing and fulfillment processes.
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Controls Tech isn't the only area of interest at PACK EXPO. Click the links that follow to read more about innovations in: Cartoning | Case and Tray Packing | Coding and Marking | Conveyors and Material Handling | Inspection and Detection | Labeling | Form/Fill/Seal | Food Processing & Packaging | Sustainable Packaging | Robotics | Pharma
To no one’s surprise the use of tablets—lightweight, portable, powerful—in programming and operating packaging machinery was a recurring theme at PACK EXPO Las Vegas. One good example was at the booth of Antares Vision Group, where a comprehensive, integrated production ecosystem called Diamind was introduced. This series of interconnected hardware and software systems operates at the line, factory, warehouse, enterprise, and supply chain levels to provide products with digital identities through manufacturing and fulfillment processes.
With a strong background in life sciences—particularly the inspection and traceability expertise required for the demanding pharmaceutical industry—Antares has spent the past few years building its technology and know-how for food and beverage manufacturers as well. The company has taken an M&A approach to its growth, acquiring 18 companies since 2019, according to Micaela Orizio, the company’s marketing communication director. Antares Vision changed its name to Antares Vision Group in 2021 to reflect its growing expertise, she adds.
Some of the acquisitions focused on traceability, some on inspection, and some on the food and beverage market, including the 2019 acquisition of FT System, a large player in bottling and packaging inspection, and the 2020 acquisition of Applied Vision, which specializes in inspection of cans and bottles but which also gave the Italian company more of a route into the U.S. market.
Diamind was developed as a result of that growth strategy, Orizio explains. Antares is in a unique position, she says, because it provides a full stack of solutions for traceability, including the equipment, software, and also data management. The company built its expertise in traceability around the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, managing the large amount of data around serialization requirements. The use of tablets, as seen in the photo shown here, makes this data visible and actionable.
“Thanks to our experience, we started to leverage this amount of data and also expand our thinking about how to use traceability,” Orizio says. “Diamind connects all the pieces in terms of data management at different levels—at the production line level, connecting traceability data, all the data coming from the unique digital identities.”
Orizio mentions the wide array of inspection systems within Antares’s portfolio, including vision and X-ray systems, metal detectors, and even a forthcoming microwave-based inspection technology. “All these systems that you find on the production line use data,” she says. “We are able to connect this data to the digital identity, so it knows exactly how a product is made—the quality control it’s passed through and also coming through the supply chain.”
Diamind’s integrated setup provides a single point of reference to simplify project management and centralized support services, ensuring product quality and end-to-end traceability via integrated, cloud-based data management.
“Today, the focus on data is essential because it allows you to take a decision, to plan, to prevent. And how to give everyone the access that needs it is the real challenge,” Orizio says. Diamind is driven by a technological trend to provide more simplicity in complex environments, she adds, commenting on integrating what has been a complex chain of separate providers for inspection, traceability, data processing, etc. “The goal is to provide this unique technological platform in order to make data management easier.”
Diamind comprises multiple production and supply chain suites, making them applicable to manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers:
- Diamind Line includes inspection systems and machines for manufacturing and packaging lines. It provides quality control for products, packaging, containers, and labeling. This suite also includes track-and-trace equipment and software for digital identity management through serialization and aggregation.
- Diamind Factory is a software suite that manages the entire production site, monitoring and optimizing processes, enhancing production efficiency and quality, and improving planning, factory maintenance, and sustainability facilitation.
- Diamind Warehouse is the software suite that leverages traceability and serialization data to manage the inter- and intra-facility movement of goods, including receiving, shipping, materials tracking, and remaining inventory.
- Diamind Enterprise offers software to help simplify regulatory compliance management, including track and trace oversight of serialized and non-serialized products and assets.
- Diamind Supply Chain is a software suite enabling end-to-end visibility and management, from raw materials to trading partners to end users.
Though Antares is focused on providing the full inspection and traceability technologies needed, this does not mean that a customer cannot use Diamind with its existing systems—whether Antares systems or competing equipment. “Diamind is absolutely modular for the user and can be connected to the existing systems and existing software,” Orizio says. “It offers interoperability to connect different kinds of sources of data coming from different kinds of machines. It can harmonize the data format in order to make all the data speak the same language.”
Antares offers a service to its customers to help design the connection of its own systems with other companies’ equipment and software.
Tablet-based machine control
Douglas Machine
According to Steve Lipps, senior director of Product Management for Douglas Machine, GuidePoint took approximately a year and a half to develop and was created in response to extensive research the company conducted with 20 different CPGs on the pain points they were experiencing in their packaging operations.
“We’re a machine builder, so certainly feedback on machine design and operation and efficiencies is part of the deal,” says Lipps. However, the resounding feedback focused on the critical role of workforce issues, the availability of skilled personnel, and the need for streamlined training and support. GuidePoint was born out of this necessity.
Lipps says that a cross-functional team including not just the firm’s own technical documentation group and engineering group but also outside resources as well, were used to develop the system and ensure it was as user friendly as possible. The tablet format was chosen for this reason. “Everyone is used to working on a phone, with applications that are intuitive and work easily,” he said. “To some degree, there’s even a little bit of a play factor with them. If you give people something to play with that they’re used to playing with, they’ll do it, and it’s a way they can learn.”
GuidePoint primarily targets operators and maintenance personnel who work closely with the company’s packaging machines. Its primary goal is to empower these individuals, making them more independent and knowledgeable, ultimately leading to increased production line efficiency.
One of the key functionalities of GuidePoint is its ability to assist in finding machine parts swiftly. In the past, locating specific parts on a packaging machine could be a time-consuming and frustrating process. GuidePoint simplifies this by providing a three-dimensional, drill-down visual interface. Users can navigate through the machine’s components, identify parts, and even access exploded views, all with the aim of locating the required part within minutes.
Another feature of GuidePoint is its fault diagnosis capability. It helps bridge the communication gap between operators and maintenance personnel. When a fault occurs on the machine, GuidePoint can provide a list of potential causes and solutions. Additionally, it offers video fault capture, enabling users to visually review what transpired during a fault. This tool aids in quicker fault resolution, minimizing downtime. “So that’s definitely an in-production help tool to aid in productivity in addition to just educating,” notes Lipps.
GuidePoint also simplifies the changeover process by providing clear, step-by-step instructions tailored to the specific recipe being used. This not only reduces the risk of errors but also helps newer employees quickly adapt to the changeover process. Furthermore, GuidePoint offers a clean view of the required changeover points, simplifying the task for operators. It even provides a smart feature that suggests which points should remain unchanged, saving valuable time during changeovers.
“If you’re an experienced operator, you might just use this list as a tool,” says Lipps. “If you’re a less experienced operator, and you don’t know what a changeover point looks like or how to do it, you can drill down to an enhanced view.” An area is also provided for operators to add notes for future reference or to attach documents.
One notable aspect of GuidePoint is that it operates offline, eliminating concerns about connectivity issues within the plant. It can function as a standalone tool with all necessary information stored within the tablet. However, it also offers the option for remote connectivity, making it possible to hold video conferences or access support from technical experts.
GuidePoint is offered as an option on all new machines from Douglas, and the company is also exploring ways to incorporate it into existing machinery.
Cama Group
“Included with the purchase of this service is the tablet,” said Campbell. “The way I like to think about this kind of technology is through the perspective of the machine operators, who, by the way, are increasingly difficult to find and sometimes even harder to retain. Getting a new operator to competently run capital-intensive machinery can be expedited through virtual technology. Take a virtual changeover, for example. This can be used in a classroom training setting, too, where it’s easier for the operator to focus on it without also worrying about running other equipment on the line or getting product out the door. You select an icon and it gives you a brief description of what needs to be changed over. There’s even an opportunity to bring up a video embedded in the tablet that shows you how to conduct a changeover.
“Or suppose out on the plant floor an operator is actually conducting a changeover on a machine and is 90 percent through it but can’t quite complete the task. This is where augmented reality comes in. What they can do is pull up the tablet, select an icon identifying the area that is giving them trouble, and troubleshoot it themselves to get over that last 10% rather than occupying the time of a maintenance technician who should really be elsewhere doing some other value-added work. It’s all about empowering operators with the information they need when they need it so that they can troubleshoot on their own.”
Watch a video of Campbell demonstrating these applications at PACK EXPO.
Controlling air flow
Packaging World editors have learned to play the long game when following new controls and automation technology as it makes its way from idea to commercialization to widespread industry adoption. We’ll often first see this tech demonstrated as a concept in the bleeding-edge technology providers’ booths, like Rockwell, B&R, Siemens, ABB, or Beckhoff. Maybe a year or two later, we’ll see it on real equipment in the packaging OEM booths. And if the tech does what it’s supposed to do for the OEMs, then not too long after that we’ll hear about that tech being used on brands’ and CPGs’ packaging equipment in fully commercialized industrial settings.
Between PACK EXPO Chicago 2022 and PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2023, PW editors watched that jump take place for an air system from SMC that we first reported on last year as a soft launch—the AMS (Air Management System), click here for more.
Schneider Packaging Equipment
“What this unit is doing for us is monitoring the airflow. Not only is it monitoring, but it can actually control the air flow,” Canna said. “In normal running condition, we’ll have full air flow going through the machine. We can compare that to an established baseline, so if we see that flow rising, we are able to see if we’re starting to develop leaks, or if there are signs of worn out cylinders or vacuum cups. What we can also do with it is, anytime the machine goes into an idle state, we can drop the pressure down to a point where the pressure is low enough to keep the machine idle, hold things in position, but use less air overall.”
The high-speed horizontal gable top case packer that employs this new tech primarily serves the market for half-gal or 52-oz cartons. It’s capable of 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-packs cases as speeds upwards of 40 cases/min.
“It has a nice combination of servo and air motion to keep things smooth and running well,” Canna said. Notable here is that when pneumatics represents a significant portion of your machine’s controls, an end user can benefit—both in cost savings and performance improvement—from precise air flow monitoring and control via a system like the AMS.
Another feature of the gable-top machine is yet another evolution of technology we’ve seen at earlier PACK EXPOs—Schneider’s proprietary Intelligent Illumination task lighting system. We’ve reported on this before, but this next-generation version conveys even more information, including low product levels, low case magazines, jams, tripped safety circuits, and more.
“It’s really nice because it gives an operator a chance to go directly to the point that needs attention, rather than go to consult an HMI screen, or go to a stack light to figure out where the issue might be,” Canna said.
Watch a video of the new high-speed gable-top carton case packer with AMS air monitoring.
Technology partners
Lenze Corporation of America
Ross Sandlin, director of business development at Lenze, describes the strategic partnership as two medium-sized companies working together. “We’re not the biggest, but that allows us to be nimble,” says Sandlin. “We're not the big boys, but that also allows us to be nimble. So if you need things that are customizable to your needs, we're not so big as to say no to you. We're interested in all of your applications. And we want you to come see what we can offer.”
Watch a brief video of the components being demonstrated at PACK EXPO.
Automation designed for OEMs
Weidmüller
The u-OS can fill multiple functions. At PACK EXPO Las Vegas, a PLC controller ran the operating system to demonstrate how Weidmüller customers could have the flexibility to load the kind of applications they want into their system.”
“The best part about u-OS is it's strategically poised to solve a lot of the problems that we have today with having PLCs connected to the cloud. Remotely deployed assets always need some mechanism by which you can reach out and continue to update and upgrade with patches and firmware, so edge management and fleet management,” says Kenneth Crawford, director of automation in North America for Weidmüller. “We offer a portal called Easy Connect that you'll be able to remotely connect to the devices and keep them current.”
An application within conveyance that hones in on the modularity of conveyance is putting the base modules in the IP-rated box, with control systems, gateways, network switches, to interface with upstream and downstream components. This allows the sharing of data and the accessing of data to transfer all relevant information to the cloud.
Crawford also explains that u-OS can be used to leverage third-party applications or for an OEM to develop its own control and cloud-based applications to run on the equipment. This can range from JavaScript or Python applications to leveraging the power of MQTT and data for any applications that a company may be running in the cloud.
Another application of the new system is preventative maintenance. Rather relying on a break-fix model, OEMs can remotely get indications of the machine’s health and set up for on-site maintenance within eight to 12 hours with all the needed parts in tow, or they can remotely access the equipment and provide troubleshooting assistance.
With u-OS Weidmüller can also duplicate a customer’s network, even if on-premise network isn’t available, by offering a cellular network to reach out to the customer’s cloud or VPN. The customer’s network can also be used to access its machine through its firewall, using its permissions.
Because of availability or allocation issues currently facing the industry, an OEM may not have the ability to get to its PLC anymore. With the incorporation of Code Assist, Weidmüller can utilize a customer’s IP and port it over from Code Assist to the Weidmüller platform encoding system and run it within a day, where it can be validated. This benefits manufacturers who don't have the bandwidth for a learning curve on a new program and helps the OEM get the equipment up and running quickly.
Controls tech to boost efficiency, productivity
Bosch Rexroth unveiled several innovations aimed at enhancing efficiency and productivity.
Discussing the company’s new ctrlX AUTOMATION platform, Sean Spees, market segment manager for CPG, explained that the system allows for seamless communication between machines, enabling real-time data retrieval from different points in the production line. It offers a non-proprietary, Linux-based approach based on apps, allowing users to tailor the platform to their specific needs.
On display was a three-axis ctrlX DRIVE linked to a ctrlX CORE industrial PC running in real-time. Other components, such as ctrlX IO, ctrlX HMI, and the MS2N synchronous motor, are also included. ctrlX CORE supports modern languages for today’s industrial machinery, such as Java, Python and Node Red, plus many other application-appropriate languages.
“The new feature we have at the show, our ctrlX AUTOMATION platform, is one that partners here are running. There are machines elsewhere on the show floor, in different halls at PACK EXPO, that we’re communicating with at our booth through wifi and the cloud,” said Spees. “We're able to pull data from their machine as it's running and can get real-time machine updates. This is part of the ‘smart phone of automation’ which is monitored from either a phone, laptop, or tablet.”
The technology can be adapted to any production process, including packaged goods, EV batteries, semiconductors, medical, solar, aerospace, and more. Its ability to maximize floor space is particularly important with plant real estate at a premium.
Bosch Rexroth also featured its ctrlX AUTOMATION-powered, multi-tech demo that consists of a VarioFlow plus conveyor system that delivers high accuracy with speed. On display was a three-axis ctrlX DRIVE linked to a ctrlX CORE running in real-time. Other components, such as ctrlX IO, ctrlX HMI, and the MS2N synchronous motor, are also included. ctrlX CORE supports modern languages for today’s industrial machinery, such as Java, Python and Node Red, plus many other application-appropriate languages.
Visitors also got a sneak peek at the T7, a new chain platform for larger chain widths (160 to 320 millimeter) powered by the modular VarioFlow plus, a high-performance, versatile plastic chain conveyor system with components that are easy to assemble in both horizontal and vertical configurations. Launching in Q4 of 2023, Spees said, “It’s a more robust design, and has a better turning radius for our consumer goods customers. This is also ctrlX-driven”
It offers flexibility in various configurations such as moving declined from a spiral and wedge-style conveying where product is brought up and over, then back down into a production line. This capability allows manufacturers to set up systems that accommodate compact facility footprints, as well as serve as buffer storage. “This can really create more floor space, where you can either shrink down production lines or create walkways underneath the conveyance,” Spees added.
Bosch Rexroth and smartPAC
The booth also featured a Kassow collaborative robot designed for palletizing and depalletizing. “What sets Kassow apart is its seven-axis design, providing greater flexibility for various tasks,” explained Spees. With payload capacities ranging from 5 kg to 18 kg, it caters to a spectrum of applications, from picking and placing to palletizing.”
Highly integrated machine vision platform
Beckhoff Automation used PACK EXPO Las Vegas to introduce to the North American audience its new machine vision hardware portfolio with the introduction of new cameras, lighting, and lenses. The Beckhoff vision platform enables engineers to implement image processing directly in a standard PLC environment.
Beckhoff Automation
The cameras generate high-quality image data via monochrome and color Sony CMOS sensors with up to 24-megapixel resolution and GigE Vision transfer rates of 2.5 Gbit/s. As vision product manager U.S. Todd Jarvey explains, “Our TwinCAT software platform, which we use for our general machine control, allows us to fully synchronize motion with vision and other control functions on the machine. We can trigger a camera based on the position of an axis of motion at a sub-microsecond level.” This synchronization eliminates the need for additional hardware triggers, wires, and process steps.
Prior even to full release of the system, Beckhoff Vision earned a Red Dot Award and the iF Design Award Gold, the highest distinction in the competition.
The platform incorporates advanced lighting products (IP65/67, EtherCAT-enabled multicolor LED illumination, in panel, ring, and bar configurations). Jarvey adds, “Because it's EtherCAT, our standard industrial network, you could add all the vision equipment, I/O modules, servo drives, and more on this one network.”
The 4-channel LED lights ensure optimal image contrast and also enable specialized inspections. All lenses are designed to operate in the visible through NIR wavelengths. VOS3000 lenses are chromatically corrected to maintain proper focus across a wide spectrum of wavelengths, from 420 nanometers to beyond 1050 nanometers. “We include IR, which reacts with materials differently than visible light. It allows the vision system to do backlight inspections and see through opaque plastic objects for fill levels, for example,” Jarvey says. This versatility allows users to employ multiple wavelengths of light without the need for constant refocusing.
A key feature that sets this vision system apart is its scalability. Manufacturers can tailor the system to their specific needs, selecting different cameras, lights, and controllers of varying functionality and performance. “In addition to GigE Vision 2D cameras, there are thermal cameras, time-of-flight cameras (which are 3D cameras that provide a monochrome depth image) and line scan cameras that we can utilize. Many other technologies are also compatible with our software interface,” he adds. This adaptability ensures that the platform can seamlessly integrate into various processing and packaging environments, from simple label verification to complex assembly processes.
The platform's ability to synchronize vision inspection results with machine control in real-time--thanks to its shared TwinCAT runtime software--powers real-time reactions and greater data transparency for better quality control, traceability, and more, for a wide variety of applications.
Also at the show, Beckhoff highlighted updates to its XPlanar “flying motion” system, and its linear XTS linear transport solution now in a washdown, IP69K-rated format: the stainless steel XTS Hygienic. There were other updates to TwinCAT 3 automation software, too, including new features in Build 4026. Beyond expanded Machine Learning capabilities, Beckhoff offered a technical preview of TwinCAT Chat, which integrates generative AI technologies like ChatGPT directly into the controls environment. “Now engineers can harness AI in their PLC programming to automate everything from debugging and adding notes to creating function blocks from scratch,” reported Daymon Thompson, director of product management at Beckhoff USA.
“Simplifies automation”
SEW Eurodrive
“MOVI-C is ideal for anything that needs dynamics, or positioning control in packaging and processing machines,” says Tom Ellis, industry account specialist, food and beverage, at SEW Eurodrive. He adds that the MOVI-C modular automation system includes software for engineering and startup, and the software components fit any hardware from the modular system.
Murrelektronik
The company showcased the machine controlling one robot at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, but Jensen says it can run as many as 100 axes. “Automotive industry, packaging, primary, secondary, end-of-line, logistics, all this stuff can be satisfied with this, which is basically a standardized cabinet at a great price point,” Jensen says.
