Sustainability, convenience and safety are the central demands made of function- and consumer-oriented packaging solutions. Everything that conserves resources, above all, is sustainable – whether regarding energy consumption, the use of lighter and thinner materials, or the prevention of rejects. This can be achieved by efficiency in production and packaging – with environmentally friendly and economical solutions from SICK for the various packaging levels.
At the same time, however, packaging should be comfortable. It should both look good and feel good, it should match individual lifestyles and life situations. Packaging should not only protect products and provide information on them, it should also communicate the quality of a brand and be emotionally convincing. And packaging should be practical – light, easy to open, reclosable, and in the right presentation unit size at the point of sales. Packaging must thus follow the convenience trend – as must automation solutions for packaging plants, because only in this way can packaging innovations be rapidly and economically implemented. With its wide range of solutions and decades-long experience in the sector, SICK is ideally positioned to meet the demanding tasks of packaging technology.
Packaging must be safe – in its production, during transport, in shops and for consumers. Packaging plants and components with a hygienic design, and machines at which people can work without the risk of accidents, are required. Safety, however, also means complete documentation from the creation of products until their consumption or use, as well as gap-free traceability throughout the entire process chain. One aspect of safety that is currently the subject of particular attention is protection from counterfeit products and fake packaging. In all these areas, SICK offers comprehensive expertise and the appropriate automation solution – in the form of materially resistant sensors; certified protective equipment for machines; bar code, 2D and RFID identification systems with a uniform integration platform (IDpro); and special luminescence scanners to check authenticity features.
Four challenges – solved from a single source
Flexibility, quality, safety and traceability – at Interpack 2011, SICK shows how to solve these challenges efficiently, economically and from a single source.
In packaging systems flexibility means being able to rapidly adjust machines for different products, packaging designs, presentation unit sizes and product volumes automatically, or with just a few actions. Intelligent sensor solutions from SICK have the necessary intelligence and efficiency for the most varied of packaging processes. They make it possible to reliably detect objects, such as PET bottles or transparent foils, that are difficult to detect – by compensating for interfering environmental influences. Intelligent sensors signal their need for maintenance early and autonomously. They thus prevent downtimes when the packaging machine should actually be running at full speed. In cartoning machines, mechanical stops can be automatically adjusted for different formats – within a few seconds and with maximum accuracy. The latest mark sensors are now able to start cutting or sealing processes, for example, with pinpoint accuracy, even without any of the visible marks which would spoil the package’s design. The advantages of flexibility: short equipping times and rapid adaptation to new requirements.
Merit, constitution, attributes, worth – the term quality encompasses a range of values which are also important in packaging systems. SICK produces intelligent, easily integrated and scalable sensor solutions for quality assurance in all areas – primary, secondary and final packaging. A 3D sensor for inspecting the contents of packaging will be presented, for the first time, at Interpack. Intelligent 2D vision sensors can check the condition of packaging and verify the presence of caps, etc. It can be very quickly adapted, and new property and quality inspections set up if there is a new product, new packaging or a batch change. The high quality and long service lives of the materially resistant photoelectric switches, inductive sensors, 3D smart cameras, level sensors and electro-sensitive protective equipment from SICK are indispensable for CIP and SIP plants, in particular. The advantages of SICK quality for packaging machine producers and their customers include high repeatability levels with consistent quality, fewer rejects and thus greater plant efficiency.
Dynamic handling, rapid processes, short cycles – today’s packaging machines are designed for high performance. Customized safety is vital in order to ensure that rapid automated processes do not pose any risk to machine operators. SICK offers producers and end-users safety solutions that comply with legislation and safety standards – with non-contact protective equipment that offers flexible adaptation to the detection, machine-related and environmental requirements of the particular packaging system. The exhibits at Interpack show how to implement ergonomic and process-oriented integration of safe sensors in packaging machines. There will also be exhibits showing how sensors and controllers differentiate between pallets and persons, and between material and the human hand, so that safe machine operation can also be achieved with high availability. Network-enabled software for the safety-oriented design of machines shows the path to the CE-label in eight steps – whilst creating the operating instructions in parallel. Safety for packaging machines means conformity with all current safety standards and directives, future-oriented protection and monitoring concepts, and optimum efficiency through the interaction between safety and control systems in a machine or plant.
In today’s diversified and globalised markets, the path of goods from the producer to the consumer is often varied and complex. This conceals risks, particularly if critical product properties are uncovered or counterfeit products are available on the market. In order to be able to react quickly and effectively to this, the traceability of goods is not merely necessary – in many sectors, e.g. the food industry, it is actually legally stipulated. Packaging carries information in the form of its labeling, which must be identified and tracked. Codes and plain writing must be detected and identified, as well as checked for legibility, completeness and plausibility. This applies from the smallest primary packaging, through outer packaging designed with advertising, to final packaging and palleted goods. At Interpack, SICK is presenting solutions for all steps along the product supply chain – based on IDpro, the comprehensive platform and portfolio strategy for bar-code, 2D-code and RFID identification technologies. They ensure that products can be reliably identified and tracked – without human error, without gaps, and with maximum flexibility.
SICK in brief
Founded in 1946, SICK is a technology leader and worldwide supplier of sensors, control systems, and services for factory, logistics and process automation. With almost 50 subsidiaries and joint ventures, as well as numerous sales offices, the Group is active in almost all markets worldwide. SICK employs over 5,000 personnel and achieved sales of EUR 748.9 m. in 2010. The area of packaging technology for food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and consumer goods for households and industry is part of the Factory Automation segment – as is the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, electronics and solar, and the wood industry.