PACK EXPO International is just over a month away, and exhibitors are starting to share what they’ll bring to Chicago. This early look includes inspection, robotics, cartoning, integrated packaging, and product movement technologies that will be on display.
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Antares Vision Group combines multiple inspections in one machine
Antares Vision Group will demonstrate its ALL-IN-ONE system, which combines multiple quality-control steps in one machine.
“The ALL-IN-ONE system represents a new approach to in-line quality control,” said Bill Holmes, president of Applied Vision and FT System North America, both Antares Vision Group companies. “Rather than being a standard combination machine, it is a modular solution designed around the characteristics of the product and the critical quality parameters that need to be monitored.”
The version at the show will combine micro-leak detection, X-ray inspection, and checkweighing. Antares will also demonstrate AI-based label inspection and a modular system for cap and fill-level inspection.
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KUKA puts robotic case handling and palletizing on display
KUKA and its system partners will demonstrate robotic case erecting, palletizing and depalletizing, case blank loading, and collaborative automation.
The workcells will also include simulation, robot programming, controls, and mobile robotics technologies. One palletizing application pairs a KUKA industrial robot with an autonomous mobile robot to move completed pallets while production continues.
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SOMIC brings space-saving cartoner to North America
SOMIC Packaging will introduce the SOMIC 202 cartoner to North American customers.
The machine handles RSCs, trays, and wraparound cartons at speeds up to 20 packs per minute and is designed for standard packaging applications. SOMIC is positioning the compact system as an entry point into automated cartoning, with tool-free format changeovers and a 180-degree door opening for machine access.
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Quest integrates robotics into Flexible One packaging platform
Quest is integrating robotic case packing and palletizing into ProMach’s Flexible One packaging solution.
The platform brings together primary packaging, secondary packaging, vision guidance, robotics, and integrated controls from multiple ProMach brands.
“Manufacturers today are being asked to do more with fewer resources while supporting a wider variety of products and package formats than ever before,” said Jae Hong, vice president and general manager at Quest, in a statement. “Flexible One solutions are designed specifically to address these challenges by combining the adaptability of robotics with the simplicity of operator-friendly controls and the performance advantages of fully integrated automation.”
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Provisur connects slicing and packaging with free-movement system
Provisur Technologies, which is part of Fortifi Food Processing Solutions, will showcase its Formax Free Movement System, which uses free-floating movers across an electromagnetic surface.
The system is designed to automate product handling from slicing through packaging and can be used for meat and cheese slicing lines, sandwich lines, snack packs, variety packs, and other food applications.
“Groundbreaking technology is about more than doing the same job faster. It is about simplifying the process,” said Brian Sandberg, director of technology at Provisur, in a statement. “By combining multiple product-handling functions into a single programmable platform, the FMS gives processors flexibility they’ve never had with other systems.”
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Final takeaway
PACK EXPO is still a few weeks away, and more news and equipment announcements are expected to come.
Packaging OEM will be on the ground in Chicago, covering the machinery, robotics, and technologies shaping packaging’s future.
