A packaging and palletizing equipment developer, Schneider Packaging, has won the Rockwell Automation Extreme Machines contest.

A producer of end-of-line case packing and palletizing equipment for manufacturers in the food, beverage, paper, plastics, industrial, replication and personal care industries, Schneider Packaging, was recently named the winner of the 2006 Rockwell Automation Extreme Machines contest. The company was chosen from a national pool of contestants based on the innovation it demonstrated in developing its next generation of machines.

Schneider packaging used Rockwell Automation control system solutions to create an extremely compact, end-of line robotic handling system for a premium coffee roaster. The machine cartons, labels, case packs and palletizes 280 individual K-cups of ready-to-brew coffee each minute, all within a mere 300 square feet of valuable factory real estate.

To deliver big performance in a small space, Schneider Packaging relied on Allen-Bradley Ultra 3000 servo drives and MPL motors to operate the two side-by-side timing screws that count the appropriate numbers of cups for each carton. Another Ultra-3000 drive operates a rotary cartoner, while a series of air cylinders agitate the carton to allow the K-cups to settle properly in the box. The cartons are sealed, dated and arranged for the casing robot, which assembles and presents the cases to a labeler before loading them onto a pallet. The cartoning, labeling, casing and palletizing processes are seamlessly managed by an Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Programmable Automation Controller (PAC).

Across the Atlantic, a machine with big scale and even bigger integration was selected as European winner of the Extreme Machines competition. Stork Townsend B.V. was selected based on innovation within its massive 33-foot by 6-foot by 20-foot sausage maker. The company standardized on Rockwell Automation technology, including 60 Allen-Bradley PowerFlex variable speed drives, 18 Kinetix 6000 multi-axis servo drives, a CompactLogix PAC, and a ControlLogix PAC, to process 4,840 pounds of meat each hour. Despite the machine's size, it is managed from start to finish by a single operator.

"Rockwell Automation has made a commitment to help OEMs innovate by delivering domain expertise, design efficiencies, and scalable control and information platforms," said Christopher Zei, vice president, general manager of the Rockwell Automation OEM Business. "The winners of our Extreme Machines contest exemplify what's possible as a result of that commitment."

Allen-Bradley, CompactLogix, ControlLogix, Kinetix, PowerFlex, Rockwell Software and Ultra are trademarks of Rockwell Automation Inc.

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