Nestlé 2019

The challenge

Nestlé Suisse SA Orbe, a factory producing tea in capsules under the well-known Special.T brand, was equipped with low and medium speed lines and was handling palletising manually. “As volume and productivity needed to increase, we were looking to use cobotic palletising to avoid repetitive non-ergonomic tasks for operators. We wanted them to handle activities with higher added value,” explains Cédric Rey, Fill & Pack Maintenance & Improvement Manager at Nestlé.

The solution

At the Orbe site, two cobotic palletisers have now been installed downstream along two Cermex SW21 compact side-loading case packers. These CoboAccess_Pal solutions feature an industrial automation platform based on the combination of PC and PLC.

The outcome

By automating the palletising of its Special.T capsules, Nestlé Suisse SA Orbe gained higher pallet quality while offering increased ease-of-operation for its workers. The latter benefit was generated by the solution’s automation platform. Based on the combination of PC and PLC, it allows better-controlled trajectories for improved cobot picking and placing. Moreover, CoboAccess_Pal’s HMI is well suited to meet the customer’s requirement for a user-friendly solution. Based on an intuitive tablet approach to navigation, the HMI facilitates the daily jobs for Nestlé Suisse SA Orbe operators, as they access Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and maintenance sheets for easier and faster troubleshooting and root cause analysis.

"“The user friendliness of the new cobotic solution was extremely important: for instance, an intuitive navigation of its HMI was a must. It was (also) imperative that the same level of safety would be maintained after switching from manual labour to a cobotic technology, ensuring that the solution is working safely with no barriers around it.”"

Laurent Cristol

Strategic Account Director Nestlé

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