Case study: pouch handling at Partners in Pet Food

During the installation of the first pouch handling production line at PPF, we were confronted with various challenges.

Ultimately, there is always a solution that works!

• Limited space
  The first pouch line for wet pet food production that PPF ordered with Lan needed to fit inside an existing production hall that had limited space available. Partly thanks to the robotics, the third party filler combined with Lan’s handling system could be built in a compact way.
  

• Transport of stacks
  The next challenge was the physical transport of the stacks with pouches to the batch steriliser. Due to the lack of space, an automated solution like a shuttle would not fit. In order to make this work an extension of the building would be necessary. PPF finally decided to go for a manual solution allowing them more flexibility against lower costs in the end.

•  Specific pouch supply
  The pouches come in from the supply belt seal to the front and gusset to the back. This specific pouch supply requires a different pouch stop mechanism. A stopper, which is more commonly used, would not function well in this particular case. We solved this with a push rather than a stop solution. The pouches are pushed in the right position on the conveyer belt. Once the pouches are in position, they slide from one to the other conveyor belt directly in the correct position for printing.

• Quality control features
  Lan integrated a printer into the line and designed a flattener that shapes the pouches in the correct form for an imprint. Another quality control feature we added, is a sample pouch conveyer which is controlled from an HMI panel and enables the operator to take random samples. Lastly, in the unloading part of the system, Lan designed a tray turning unit which prevents pouches from being left behind on the trays before these will be stacked for manual transport back to the loader.