Food & beverage

UR cobots are used throughout the food and beverage supply chain in a wide range of secondary processes such as packaging and machine tending. Collaborative robots can work in conditions from humid greenhouses to refrigerated rooms to tending hot ovens, relieving employees from repetitive tasks that can cause injury in unfavorable environments.

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Industrial collaborative robots in food & beverage

Cobots can work around the clock without breaks. This is ideal for seasonal bursts, where cobots can meet production requirements without the need for additional or temporary workers. Factories can exploit the full flexibility of cobots by redeploying them to new product lines or different processes as production volumes change. This flexibility is enabled by the patented and certified safety system in UR cobots. They can be implemented to stop or slow down when operators are present.

For pick/pack/pal applications, UR cobot models meet a range of reach and payload requirements. Built-in palletizing wizards make deployment a breeze, even to meet specific customer needs for pallet patterns and labeling that are often required for food and beverage distribution.

As a food producer, it is extremely important for us to minimize downtime, so we can supply fresh goods at a competitive price. The UR robots are a great automation solution because they can run without safety fencing. It is a significant advantage that our employees can work right next to the robots and that they easily can adjust the robots when packing different types of products

Johnny Jansson, Technical Manager, Atria

Flexibility

Cobots’ easy programming lets food and beverage producers and packagers quickly adapt to new products and delivery requirements. Collaborative robot arms can be reprogrammed, moved, and redeployed, so even smaller facilities can run multiple lines or switch from production to packaging in the same floor space.

Productivity

Cobots in food and beverage applications can work around the clock to meet even high seasonal demands. Quality isn’t sacrificed for productivity, with accurate, repeatable automation that can reduce waste. A wide range of plug-and-play grippers mean cobots can easily handle delicate and irregularly shaped objects.

Safety & hygiene

Collaborative robots can be implemented to slow down or stop when working side-by-side with human operators in food and beverage processes. While our cobots are not suitable for primary food handling, they are being used widely for handling, packaging and palletizing of packaged foods and beverages.

Choose the right collaborative robot for your applications

A range of Universal Robots models are available to address automation needs from precision tasks to long reach and high payload requirements. The UR10e model is widely used in automotive applications to address diverse processes.