Page 21 - EngineerIt March 2021

AUTOMATION AND CONTROL

Bag-handling robots: a new wave of

productivity and efficiency

n the ever-expanding demands of industry, robotics has had to the size of the bulk bag. A tailormade solution had to be developed.
flex and adapt to suit new niches. One such niche is the recent “Compact Robotics and Yaskawa designed and patented a
Itrend towards bag-in-bag packaging where products supplied in new gripper that allows for a 50 kilogram bag to be deposited
large bags (typically 50kg) are now being packed into two tonne into the bulk bag,” Bensch says. “Since then, we’ve seen our
bulk bags instead of palletised onto wooden pallets. innovation implemented across other businesses to address
“Developing strong partnerships with companies that are similar challenges.”
themselves experts in their fields, provides the opportunity While there has been a massive uptake in bag-handling
for turnkey solutions that help solve prior difficulties. Compact robots across various industries in South Africa, the biggest
Robotics is a long-standing partner of Yaskawa Southern Africa, perceived barrier to entry is the required skills to handle them.
specialising in bag handling applications and were therefore the Much like with any other machine, you need to learn how to
obvious choice to team up with for this challenge,” says Yaskawa use it and once you do, it’s just like riding a bicycle. Yaskawa
Southern Africa’s system solutions engineer, Riccardo Ferrari. and Compact Robotics do their part to address the skills gap by
Every industry has the three Ds (dirty, dull and dangerous providing support and training.
jobs) that no human wants to do, but these tasks still need to Before investing in a robot, it’s important for the robotics
be completed. Thanks to the invention of robotics, though, experts to analyse the production environment, provide the
there’s now the option to automate these functions, freeing up necessary guidance and indicate where automation can make
human workers to focus on more challenging work that requires a significant difference. “It is important to understand how the
cognitive reasoning. business works and what the expectations are before any
Whether you’re lugging around lumpy heaps of fertiliser or implementation,” Bensch said. n
loading heavy, dusty bags of cement onto a pallet, bag-handling
is a task that’s much better suited for a robot than a human being.
“From an ergonomic point of view, this function poses a serious
health risk to workers,” says Compact Robotics managing director,
Martin Bensch. “Employees who have to carry and palletise the
bags themselves endure physical strain due to the heavy weight
of the objects and the constant repetition of the job.”

New opportunities for automation
With the global drive for businesses and industries to automate
and work smarter (not harder), robotics presents opportunities for
both innovation and efficiency.
“For companies that decide to automate, the biggest and most
notable benefit is the increase in production. Robots are incredibly
reliable and efficient, as they provide consistent and accurate
performance around the clock. You know exactly what they’re
capable of and what’s possible for your production line to achieve.”
Taking away the guesswork is something that every business
can get behind, especially in a time when forecasts and data-
driven decisions are more critical than ever. Equally important is
the fact that robots hold the key to solving challenges traditionally
seen as unsolvable.
As an example, Bensch explains how Compact Robotics and
Yaskawa developed a unique solution for a problem that a local
fertiliser company experienced. In the fertiliser industry, fertiliser
gets packed into a two tonne bulk bag, not on pallets. To get the
fertiliser into the bulk bag, an employee was required to pick up a
50 kilogram bag, balance it on his head, then drop it into the bulk
bag. For obvious reasons, this was a dangerous exercise and not
a viable way to do it.
While a robot with a gripper was identified as the answer, there
was another challenge: the gripper couldn’t release properly due to

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