A clear need: automate without sacrificing quality
When a major food company contacted us, the problem was clear: they needed a line capable of singularize seasoned salamis at a rate of 100 pieces per minute, maintaining the necessary delicacy so as not to damage the product.
Behind that apparently simple request, there was a huge engineering challenge: managing salami hanging in strings of 6 units, picking them up from the maturing trolleys and separating them. one by one automatically, continuously and reliably.
The initial analysis: the production flow before the intervention
During the first phase of the inspection, we observed a still ongoing process highly manual: operators who took the strings from the trolleys, separated them by hand and placed them on the bagging machine.
A slow, tiring job, subject to variability.
The actual pace was about 40–50 pieces per minute, far from the required target.
The first step was therefore redesign the entire layout of the production area, identifying a logical sequence that would allow the automation to work smoothly and without interruptions.
We have designed a completely new industrial layout, built around one key element:
a anthropomorphic robot equipped with a smart gripper capable of handling 6 salamis at a time.
The clamp is equipped with:
- a system of integrated blades which automatically separates the salami once the string has been removed,
- sensors that detect the precise position of the salami to avoid cutting errors,
- a coordinated movement that deposits the individual salamis on the bagging line next.
Everything is synchronized with the cycles of the packaging machine, to ensure production continuity and constant flow.
The result: efficiency, precision and continuity
The new layout has completely transformed the productivity of the line:
- Actual pace: 100 constant salamis/minute
- Staff employed: reduced from 70%
- Errors and rejections: almost zero
But the real result is the’process reliability: each individual salami is handled with care and placed in exactly the right place for packaging.
