Compact and efficient end of line equipment for the F&B industry

SMI designs and manufactures bottling and packaging machines with an innovative design, equipped with Internet of Things (IoT) technology, in order to supply smart solutions and enhance customers’ competitiveness, production efficiency, flexibility, energy efficiency and holistic production plant management.

During Anuga FoodTec 2022 (Hall 5.1 – Stand C088) – one of the most important international trade fairs for the food and beverage industry, involving all aspects of food production – SMI will showcase its new ASW 30 T ERGON shrink wrapper with single lane infeed and 90° product infeed, as well as its latest APS 615 ERGON semi-automatic palletiser.

Together, these two machines offer all the advantages of an extremely compact, flexible and efficient end of line production, allowing food and beverage companies to easily adapt their production according to the changing consumption habits.

Compact ASW ERGON shrink wrapper with 90° infeed

In order to automate and optimise the end of line secondary packaging process, SMI offers different solutions suitable for every packaging need – from packs in film only, cardboard pads or trays, to cardboard boxes and multipacks in overlapping sleeves, etc.

SMI believes that investments in cutting-edge technology and innovation are the main drivers for success in every company. Among the latest innovations in its product range, SMI has introduced six new models dedicated to the packaging of different containers with a cylindrical, oval or square/rectangular base at a maximum output of 30 (ASW 30) and 40 (ASW 40) packs per minute.

APS 615 compact palletiser. Top technology in a small space

The tertiary packaging of food and beverage products requires increasingly flexible solutions for improving the handling of containers, avoiding damages during their transport, reducing the format changeover time, increasing the performance and reducing the space.

SMI’s new APS 615 ERGON semi-automatic palletiser is the result of investments in advanced technical solutions, developed to provide users with a simple, easy to use and cost-effective system for production output of up to 15 packs/minute.

APS 615 ERGON palletising system features include:

• A compact and ergonomic structure that allows significant space-saving within low-speed bottling plants.
• An ergonomic and functional structure of APS ERGON, which allows the operator to easily and safely perform activities related to installation, management and maintenance.
• Use of innovative, smart and customised technical solutions that offer considerable advantages in terms of operational flexibility and economic competitiveness of the processes.
• Optimised TCO (total cost of ownership) thanks to low operating and maintenance costs.
• A high level of flexibility, thanks to the ability to realise several palletising patterns, according to the specific customers’ needs.
• Use of cutting-edge technology that ensures great operational flexibility and the possibility to adapt to the needs of format changeover, product changeover and/or plant layout.
• Operations controlled by a user-friendly machine automation and control system, guaranteed by an extremely intuitive graphic interface, touchscreen display and POSYC® real-time diagnostics and technical support functions.
• The electrical panel, positioned outside the safety guards is a different module, that is not unwired during the transport and can be immediately installed at the customer’s plant.

Compact and functional structure

At the core of the APS 615 ERGON semi-automatic palletising system is a structure where the three Cartesian axis systems designed for the pallet formation are positioned. This is added to the infeed conveyor, the product picking head and the machine guards.

At the palletiser infeed, the product arrives at the product feeding conveyor and is cadenced by the rubber conveyor.

Subsequently, it is brought into the picking position by a distancing conveyor; here, the gripping head picks the pack (individually or grouped) and moves it to the pallet on the ground. The cyclic repetition of this operation enables the creation of several palletising layers.

The picking head is equipped with a motor for the product rotation, in order to place the pack on the layer in the position required by the palletising pattern. Once the pallet formation has finished, the operator manually removes the full pallet and positions a new empty pallet.

To find out more, visit: smigroup.it.