Food

In practice

Soft fruit quality control sped up

Karsten Europe handles the distribution of grapes from Africa and has recently started fully automatically checking the quality of imported grapes via an AI aided vision system from the company Gearbox. Besides advanced hardware and software, at the heart of this machine are electric drives from Festo's Simplified Motion Series, which are used to eject failed products in a controlled manner. Gearbox opted for the simple electric automation solution because it saved having compressed air as a secondary energy source, and because electric drives provided the repeatability they required.

Perspectives

Robotics in the Food Industry

Andy MacPherson, Industry Manager for Food & Beverage at Festo GB, shares his thoughts on why this is the perfect time for the food industry to invest in robotics and automation.

Perspectives

Resilience in the Food Industry

Andy MacPherson, Food & Beverage Manager at Festo, explains the role that automation has to play in helping food processors cope with change.

Perspectives

Selecting the correct pneumatic solutions

Andy MacPherson, Product Manager for Food & Beverage at Festo, shares five steps to selecting the correct pneumatic solution in food applications

In practice

Grolsch bottling plant upgrade goes with a swing

New servo technology from Festo is helping Grolsch to put the iconic swing tops on its bottles of lager. The ‘swing-top transfer unit’ was custom-designed by Festo in conjunction with system integrator MCA Linear Motion Robotics and is installed at the Grolsch Enschede plant in The Netherlands.

In practice

A Swabian recipe for success

Soft pretzels are one of the most popular breakfast treats in southern Germany. It takes skill, practice and time to achieve the perfect symmetrically twisted shape with a fat belly and thin arms. Or simply a clever automation solution.

In practice

Exactly the right dose

Coffee, sugar, pharmaceuticals—nowadays, virtually everything is packed in small, low-cost sachets. The new, flexible flat pouch machine Sigpack VPF from Bosch Packaging Technology ensures correct packaging and a precise mixing ratio. The world's first freely scalable sachet machine uses the new flexibility provided by the digital pneumatics of the Festo Motion Terminal.

In practice

Standing strong

The Doypack® brand has been synonymous with practical stand-up pouches for over 50 years. The patent is held by French company Thimonnier, which is increasingly moving towards mechatronics and ultimately Industry 4.0 for the development of its filling and packaging machines. Pneumatic and electric automation technology from Festo provides a solid foundation for this development.

In practice

With fluid processes to a sparkling future

Tradition has a name: Kessler. Since 1826, the oldest sparkling wines producer in Germany has been placing its faith in high-quality champagne and other wines – and intends to continue growing in the future with traditional methods and ultramodern production systems. Experts from Festo Training and Consulting are helping to make the new processes as smooth as possible.

In practice

An acquired taste

With 100,000 smoked sausages produced each day, it is an art in itself to continuously maintain a consistent taste, colour and consistency, depending on the product type. Bösinger Fleischwaren has been doing this for decades using globally well-known smoke generators and smoke houses from Germos. In the latest product generation, standard components from Festo are increasing system availability.

In practice

Maximum pleasure, minimum consumption

Energy-saving measures are a cornerstone of the corporate philosophy of global firm Unilever. The company is now significantly reducing its compressed air consumption on a machine producing Magnum ice creams by using the new energy efficiency module MSE6-E2M.