As the Industrial Internet of Things gains ground in manufacturing all around the world, the case for new, improved motion solutions grows with it. The era of Industry 4.0 offers huge potential improvements in throughput and efficiency while reducing downtime, change-over times and wastage. In packaging, there’s a standout motion technology that offers manufacturers all of these advantages - and it comes in the form of magnetised movement of independent carts, so called independent cart technology (ICT) – writes Rod Blair, business development manager, ICT Solutions.
Let’s take the example of a standard bottling line using a traditional ‘endless screw’ method of grouping bottles (or other containers, for that matter). This method is, quite literally, a point of friction in the packaging process. As bottles can spend about 12 seconds in such a system, they are in contact with other bottles and the screw’s surfaces. The friction involved here can result in damage, such as scratches marks and dents, to labels or the bottles themselves. This causes an increase in the number of rejects and reduces productivity.
Replace the endless screw with a similar sized independent cart technology and the movers need only be in contact with the bottle for 0.3 seconds – far less time to cause any damage. Moreover, the extremely precise independent movers can turn each bottle by 90 degrees, position it accurately, group the bottles and send them on to the next station in the packaging process such as the cardboard or film wrapping process.
There are further benefits to ICT that make it a shoo-in for the new era of packaging solutions supporting the IIoT. With the independent movers being programmable, and reprogrammable at the touch of a button, the same line can handle short runs of variously shaped bottles – including ones not usually suited to an endless screw solution. Short runs become more cost effective as a result, and the flexibility required and possible in Industry 4.0 is available. No changing heavy sets of screws, no cranes or tooling required and the flexibility to get creative with package shapes. No more point of friction in the packaging line slowing potentially rapid time-to-market goals that modern manufacturers seek.
No more friction either, in terms of maintenance. ICT that uses magnets does away with the rotary driven belts, chains and gears – and all of the grease and wear that comes with friction.
Intelligent conveyor systems are truly coming of age. Modular, flexible, linear, curvilinear, controllable, fast and efficient, they have a lower TCO and might well be the most important change in motion solutions of the IIoT.
