Anuga FoodTec 2024: Smart Packaging Hub partner companies will be present at stand B040-C041 Hall 7.1
From 19 to 22 March in Cologne – Germany – the spotlight will be on the 2024 edition of Anuga FoodTec, the prestigious trade fair of global interest, dedicated to technological and process innovations involving the entire value chain of the food & beverage industry.
More than 40,000 visitors from 150 countries are expected at Anuga FoodTec 2024, where they will be able to engage with more than 1,600 exhibitors who will bring the most significant innovations to the show, including process, automation and digitisation, food safety, filling and packaging, intralogistics and distribution technologies. There will also be an exhibition area dedicated to the theme of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
With these premises, the 2024 edition of the Cologne trade fair confirms itself as an important global platform for the food & beverage sector, where leading industry decision-makers from all over the world will meet suppliers of technology and process innovation, creating profitable business opportunities and technological growth at all stages of the value chain.
Smart Packaging Hub at Anuga FoodTec 2024
The stand of the Smart Packaging Hub, B040-C041 Hall 7.1, is a meeting point where visitors can learn about technological innovations and modern process automation solutions compliant with the Industry 4.0 paradigm, applied to a complete line for food & beverage packaging, by confronting with the professionals of the 5 companies of the Hub, namely Baumer, Cama, Clevertech, Tosa and Zacmi.
The Smart Packaging Hub is a prestigious sector platform, characterized by the fact that its partner companies have different skills in the food & beverage packaging, ranging from primary, secondary and tertiary packaging.
Consequently, the professionals at the Smart Packaging Hub have developed experiences and technologies with a global vision, from front to end of line, enabling them to build automated and integrated plants with modular and customisable solutions that meet the quality, interconnection and production efficiency requirements of a complete, custom-designed food & beverage packaging line.
Here are the previews of the innovations that the 5 partner companies of the Smart Packaging Hub will present at Anuga FoodTec 2024.
Baumer
Sustainability, optimisation and flexibility in production are the key topics Baumer will address at Anuga FoodTech 2024.
The company, which has been providing high-tech solutions for secondary packaging for more than 50 years, will be exhibiting its new Wrap-Around case packer with 90° infeed system at the Cologne show.
This new wrap-around packaging machine, designed and manufactured by Baumer, differs from classic case packers by the insertion of a 90° wheel that eliminates the classic divider. It is a patented solution that allows to reduce the size of the machine to just 6 metres in length, making it easy to fit into existing production lines.
The adoption of the 90° wheel in place of the classic divider allows the processing of any type of product such as bottles, bricks, cans and more, while maintaining a constant speed without slowing down, in favour of production efficiency and flexibility.
At the fair, Baumer will also present the latest innovations in terms of sustainability introduced by ‘Rouge’, a wrap-around case packer with patented solutions to reduce cardboard consumption, allowing costs to be contained while respecting the environment.
Cama
Cama Group, among the prestigious international players in the design and supply of innovative solutions for secondary and tertiary end-of-line packaging, will present at Anuga Foodtec 2024 its Breakthrough Generation technology, highlighting features such as maximum flexibility, fully digital functionality and the value of partnerships.
Cama will be exhibiting at the Cologne trade fair an IF series monoblock, tailor-made for the precise requirements of a major European confectionery customer. It consists of a tray-forming unit and a loading unit.
In operation, the robotic loading unit of the monoblock receives the packaged products from two independent Cama case packers located upstream. Two robots, designed and developed by Cama for the packaging applications, position and prepare the packaged products in the loading unit, which are then picked and placed into the trays in a wide variety of predetermined configurations, depending on the recipes. Machine throughput is 360 cartons/minute.
Designed to ensure the best possible uptime, maximum efficiency (OEE) and low total cost of ownership (TCO), the modular design of Cama’s monoblock solutions is able to adapt according to the operator’s needs.
With the reliability of Cama’s Breakthrough Generation (BTG) technology, the monoblock concept combines the latest digital, servo and robotic technologies in a reduced-footprint solution with high performance standards.
Supporting and guaranteeing even greater flexibility and agility is the integrated augmented reality (AR) function. This allows operators to have a more precise, intuitive and unrestricted view of the inside of the machine, facilitating operation and changeover operations, as well as effectively facilitating the processes of maintenance, identification and ordering of spare parts.
Clevertech
Clevertech, one of the world’s leading companies in the design and supply of integrated front and end-of-line solutions, to the 2024 edition of Anuga FoodTecth will present the sophisticated technologies of its palletising system ‘Raptor’.
It’s about a robotic palletising system, designed and manufactured with advanced and customisable solutions to meet the sector’s most complex and rapidly evolving needs. In addition, it is equipped with all the necessary peripherals to manage product infeed and the handling of full and empty pallets.
Raptor palletising system utilises 4- or 6-axis articulated robots. The ‘forklift-style’ gripper mounted on the robot head is a key element, capable of precisely handling a wide range of secondary packaging, interlayers and empty pallets, ensuring a secure hold of the load.
Robot’s gripper picks up the packaged products to be palletised by picking them up from underneath with the ‘forks’, holding them in place by means of a plate that is lowered by resting on top of them, so that they can be precisely deposited onto the pallet. This makes it possible to work with various types of secondary packaging, such as cardboard boxes, open trays ready for display, trays wrapped in plastic film, and even products as small as 100×100 millimetre packs.
Raptor robotic palletising system can be adapted to customers’ specific requirements by dimensioning the payload according to the specific weight of the product to be palletised. In addition, it can be integrated with pallet wrapping and labelling equipment for easy identification in the warehouse and can interface with automated guided vehicles (AGV).
For maximum flexibility, the Raptor is equipped with electronic control systems with architectures based on customer experience. In addition, the robot gripper can be customised with vision equipment to meet specific palletising requirements.
Tosa
‘Sustainability through innovation’ is the theme that the Tosa Group will deepen at Anuga FoodTec 2024, presenting its latest technologies for end-of-line solutions.
Tosa Group, one of the world’s leading companies specialising in the design and supply of tertiary packaging solutions, invests resources in the direction of sustainability, a theme that SMEs and multinational companies in the food & beverage sector are increasingly consciously supporting.
Over the last few years, the market has witnessed a significant change in the packaging world , which led paper to become one of the main green alternative to plastic, also in the end-of-line.
During the Cologne exhibition, Tosa Group’s staff will discuss with visitors their perspectives on the use of plastic film or paper reels for wrapping palletised loads in the end-of-line, without compromising stability and therefore safety.
Tosa will address these issues by illustrating one of its latest research and development projects for the realisation of a ‘deformable paper’ that adapts to even irregular profiles of palletised loads, thanks to the up to 40% ‘deformable’ fibres that compose it.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn the details of the ‘Cai Lun Hybrid’ wrapping machine, designed to work with all types of paper reels on the market, mainly Kraft paper. This modern automatic wrapping machine also stands out for its versatility, as it can also use plastic film, adapting to any requirement.
Tosa staff will also introduce the sophisticated technologies of ‘Juracàn’, the new rotating ring wrapping machine for plastic stretch film use, suitable for high production requirements.
This wrapping machine is characterised by a new construction philosophy based on the perfect balance between machine structure and counterweights, aimed at reducing materials and energy consumption, while remaining faithful to the cardinal principles of environmental responsibility that drive Tosa Group’s decision-making.
Zacmi
Zacmi chooses the prestigious atmosphere of the Anuga FoodTec 2024 trade fair to celebrate its 70th anniversary.
With over 2,500 machines spread throughout the world and 47 patents, Zacmi celebrates its 70th anniversary, confirming itself as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of filling, seaming and packaging systems for primary packaging, anticipating market needs and guaranteeing its customers’ innovative and sustainable solutions.
At the fair in Cologne, Zacmi will present its latest innovations: a 12-head Seamer and a 40-telescope Filler. These machines embody Zacmi’s dedication and continuous research towards precision, speed and production efficiency.
The Seamer is made entirely of stainless steel, synonymous with robustness, hygiene and durability in time. It is designed for rapid container size changes and can reach speeds of 1,200 strokes per minute with tinplate containers and up to 1,600 strokes per minute with aluminium containers.
Integrated continuous lubrication, where each point is controlled by a dedicated solenoid valve, eliminates the need to stop production for maintenance, ensuring constant performance, thus reducing the expenditure of time and money.
Zacmi staff will also show visitors the technological details of the new Telescopic Filler with 40 telescopes, designed to excel even in the pet food sector.
This machine, with its vibrating cones, is able to accurately fill a vast range of solid products: from vegetables to meat, from fruit to powders.
Its smart cleaning design ensures a completely automatic washing cycle, whilst the ‘No Can – No Fill’ system prevents product waste as filling is only possible when the container is present.