Trip down memory lane: origin diversity II.

The great diversity in robot projects is deeply embedded in the DNA of DERO GROEP. To celebrate our 30th anniversary, we take you through our history in a series of stories, continuing our retrospective on the origins of this diversity this week.

In the first part about our diversity, you could read where our broad orientation in robot projects comes from. In this second part, we continue the trip and look back at more unique projects from the old days.

Adding value

The basis of our robot projects has always been material handling, in the broadest sense of the word. So this can be very diverse. "The most important thing is that we can add value," says Maro Dedel, founder and CEO of DERO GROEP. "Whether it's end-of-line applications or special handling solutions: DERO projects usually have a high degree of uniqueness. Driven by our origins and core values, we are constantly looking for new challenges and want to provide the optimal solution for the user."

Although in recent years we have focused on specific markets such as cheese, bakery, convenience, horti and fresh produce, we remain broadly oriented and offer a wide range of one-of-a-kind solutions. "And if the solution does not yet exist, we invent it," says Maro. "Even outside these markets we still develop dedicated customer-focused solutions, as long as we can add value."

Some remarkable robot projects done by DERO GROEP over the years.

Robot projects from the past

Over the years we have done countless projects in various sectors, some of which have already been highlighted in the first part. Below are some more of these old projects that characterize our diversity and have a special story behind them.

Belgian bakery - packing bake-off rolls 
When a new bakery for bake-off products was built in Belgium, DERO was involved in the design and implementation of the end-of-line process from the very start. Maro: "Here we robotized the entire process: taking the different types of bread from the baking trays and inserting them into the thermoformer, packing those packages into outer boxes and palletizing the boxes. We also provided all of the conveyor belts in between and integrated equipment such as box erectors, box closers and printing and labeling machines. The effective implementation of all handling processes resulted in a very efficient and compact setup."

FrieslandCampina Bornem - handling coffee milk cups
Our first project at what is now FrieslandCampina, was to automate the handling of cups of evaporated milk cream in Bornem (Belgium), then still a Nutricia plant. "This project, called CUPIDO, involved collecting the cups coming from the 7 filling machines," Maro explains. "A robot was used to handle the baskets in which the cups were collected to be pasteurized. Since two types of cups could be produced at the same time and only one type could be packed at once, the robot was also used to handle temporary storage."

Robot 'Wendy' handles baskets with coffee milk cups in Bornem.

The second project in Bornem was palletizing the packed cups and supplying empty cups to the filling machine. A special solution was developed for this: the nobot ('not a robot'). After 35 years of faithful service, this nobot was recently replaced by a new robot installation that meets today's requirements in terms of capacity and safety.

Trivium Packaging - transferring and buffering lids
Trivium Packaging, manufacturer of metal packaging for e.g. milk powder, was looking for a solution for the inter-buffering of can lids when setting up their new factory. Maro: "From the start, we actively thought along about the setup and design of the complete process and this was one of the reasons why Trivium Packaging chose to work with DERO. By using robots as a transfer and buffer system, an entirely new application was designed. Developing the setup and the robot gripper proved to be quite a challenge: combining the desired functionalities with the work area, available space and pay-load made the issue complex."

// P. Mulder - Synergy Food  //