Zenon Automation Projects

Zenon Automation SAIC handed Syngenta a complete system that automated the process of secondary and tertiary packaging. The system includes two pick & place systems for bottle caps, three cartesian bottle casers, robotic palletizer for cases, pallet transfer, stretch wrapping, lines & tanks SCADA system.

Athenian Brewery is a leading company in the Greek beer market with a wide portfolio of brands such as Amstel, Amstel Pils, Amstel Bock, Amstel Radler, Heineken, Alpha, Fischer, a.o.

Zenon Automation SAICT, a company with extensive experience and expertise in the design and implementation of robotic and automation solutions for the end-of-line, has successfully completed the installation of a fully automated repackaging line of glass bottles for Athenian Brewery.

The repackaging line was designed and built by the experienced engineers of Zenon. Zenon's approach ensured full automation, high productivity, safety and optimal utilization of space and resources.

With the robotic system we designed and installed, CHROTEX S.A. automated the palletizing process for the emulsion paint line.

Using roller conveyors, the system receives paint buckets and carton cases from conveyor lines, and then groups and palletizes them with a FANUC robotic arm, according to a predetermined pattern, on two separate pallet loading stations. It receives empty pallets of two different sizes from ready stacks, while the operator only needs to insert stacks of empty pallets and cartons, and remove the full pallets. When palletizing is completed, all pallets are accumulated at a common exit and are automatically stretch wrapped.

Karamolegos S.A. packages and distributes different types of bread and bakery products in plastic cases (trays). With the system we designed and installed, the company has fully automated the handling process of full and empty trays for the sliced bread and bread core production lines.

The handling process includes the distribution of empty trays to 9 loading stations within the production area, as well as accumulation of the full trays in two independent conveyor lines leading to the pasteurization ovens. This integrated handling system includes: empty tray destacking mechanisms, conveyor lines with a plastic chain conveyor for full and empty trays, single and double subsystems for the in-feed and out-feed of trays to the conveyor lines, and a line for the in-feed with empty trays of the “Time for Rolls” bread production line.

All subsystems are controlled by the main control panel, which monitors production in real time with the help of an industrial panel PC.

Vivartia SA needed to automate the Tetrapak cases palletizing process in its dairy branch.

Zenon Automation SAICT, responding to this need, designed and implemented a robotic system that receives Tetrapak carton cases from a conveyor line, sorts them to two separate conveyor lines based on their height, groups and palletizes them according to a predetermined pattern at specific pallet loading stations. The system automatically takes empty pallets from ready stacks and from the operator it is only required to in-feed stacks of empty pallets and remove the full pallets once the palletizing is completed.

The extension of the system we have installed at Tasty Foods contributed to the full automation of the case handling process of the factory. The system receives carton cases from two production lines on a conveyor line. The cases are then raised by a lift at 3,5m and conveyed parallel to the wall. The last part of the line is inclined, so the cases are brought back to 1m from the ground, and the conveyor line is merged to the existing line.

What Tasty Foods required was an automated handling and sorting process for carton cases to be palletized, aiming at reduced costs and increased production and warehousing flexibility. Zenon Automation SAICT designed and installed an integrated solution, which completes the process in four (4) steps: 1) Carton case labelling & handling, 2) case barcode reading, 3) carton case sorting and 4) case grouping & palletizing.

We have designed and installed an automated case packing system for Joconda pralines in two different carton cases (1 and 3 kilos). The system includes two SCARA robotic arms (Adept), a servo-controlled grouping module, product and carton case conveyor belts, and photocells for quality and quantity control of packed pralines. The system was taken out of production, when the production company, Pavlidis, discontinued this type of packaging.

Three robotic systems have been designed and installed for loading/unloading trolleys with serum containers. With the help of a FANUC M420 robotic arm, the two loading systems receive the serum containers from the corresponding production line and load them on metal trolleys with drawers, in order to convey them to the sterilization oven. The systems include a plastic chain conveyor, a lift to handle the trolley drawers and a chain conveyor for the trolleys.

The robotic unloading system unloads the sterilized serum containers from the trolleys and in-feeds them to the label applicator and the robotic case packing system. It includes a FANUC M420 robotic arm, a lift with drawer handling mechanisms, and a chain conveyor for the trolleys. It is worth mentioning that, quite often, during conveyance and sterilization of the trolleys, the serum containers are displaced on the drawer. We have therefore designed a special gripper to deal with this problem. The system can handle serum containers of 1000ml, 500ml, 250ml & 100ml, and the changeover process is simple and fast.

A robotic system for case packing serum containers in different carton cases. It includes a FANUC M421 robotic arm, a pneumatically activated serum grouping module, case formers and sealers, and a chain conveyor for carton case conveyance. The system can handle serum containers of 1000ml, 500ml, 250ml &am; 100ml, in eight different carton case types. The system is fed with serums by a robotic unloading system for the trolleys, and the packed carton cases are forwarded to a robotic palletizing system, thus automating the entire packaging procedure.