OEM APPLICATION NOTE
↖ With new equipment for secondary packaging that includes three Fanuc six-axis robots, Pearson was able to exceed Medline’s rate expectations, delivering 160 products/min.
Wet Wipes Case Packed via Robots at 160/min ANNE MARIE MOHAN, SENIOR EDITOR, PACKAGING WORLD Medline Industries of Northfield, IL, is the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies, including medical-grade wet wipes. Not long ago, the medical resource provider realized that its existing system for case packing wet wipe products comprised outdated equipment that no longer fulfilled its needs. To find new equipment to replace its aging machinery, including a 2004 Goodman gantry packer, Medline turned to Pearson Packaging Systems, which had acquired Goodman in 2008. Medline was looking for a solution that could accommodate largeand small-scale operations at 150 products/min. They also wanted the ability to quickly scale production, anticipating rapid market acceptance of a test product. Pearson’s solution also needed to address the old machine’s limited two-axis, gantry-style movements, which caused the product’s corners to catch on the corrugated during packing. Additionally, product shingling during transfer at higher rates restricted the speeds at which the previous solution could pack product.
↘ The new Medline case-packing line uses a U-shaped floorplan, allowing a single operator efficient visual and physical access to the entire line.
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