Efficient bread packing at Hoogvliet Bakery.

At the modern bakery of Hoogvliet, we had the pleasure to automate one of the last bits of manual labour some time ago. We supplied two robot packing cells for loading bags with bread rolls into crates at high speed.

As the only supermarket chain in the Netherlands to bake all its own bread, Hoogvliet proudly bears the title of Warme Bakker (i.e. warm baker). Every day, the Hoogvliet Bakery in Bleiswijk produces a vast array of artisanal bread, delivering fresh rolls, buns and loaves to stores multiple times daily. Almost the entire process in this modern bakery was already automated, but packing the bread rolls remained a manual task. Until now.

Packing small bread
There were already machines on the market for loading (small) bread into crates, but there was still room for improvement in terms of hygiene and footprint. Convinced that DERO GROEP could make a more suitable machine for the bakery sector, Hoogvliet Bakkerij approached us. The challenge? To create a flexible, high-speed solution for packing various types of packaged small bread in crates, all within a simple, compact and hygienic design.

Our solution involves two compact robot packing cells utilizing Schneider delta robots to pack bread rolls into crates at high speed. This setup ensures a reliable, high-capacity operation and, in addition, the machine's open structure guarantees easy cleaning and maintenance.

Gripper changeover system
As the various types of rolls and buns do not all have the same packaging size, they must be placed in the crate in different patterns. We addressed this by designing different sizes of grippers and equipping the robots with a switching system, so that the grippers can be easily attached to the robot. his makes it possible to quickly switch to another product, which will then be placed in the right pattern in the crate. This system also allows easy modifications or expansions later on.

New standard
With these compact, accessible and flexible packing cells, one of the last bits of manual labour at Hoogvliet Bakery is now also automated. This sets a new standard for modern bakeries, combining traditional baking artistry with the latest automation technologies.

// P. Mulder - Synergy Food  //