'Bottle-Neck' Solution Pays Back in 12 Months

Investment in a high-speed robotic system from RTS Flexible Systems at Jeyes  Ltd has paid for itself in just one year, thanks to a bespoke solution which eliminated manual handling of plastic bottles into carrier blocks by finding a solution to gripping the bottle necks for placement.

The RTS system based on an ABB robot replaced a labour-intensive and difficult bottle filling operation and has significantly lowered operating costs at Jeyes, the manufacturer of toilet bowl cleaners and air fresheners.

RTS developed an innovative bespoke ‘bellows’ gripper fitted on the wrist of an ABB IRB 140 six axis robot, as part of an automated cell integrated into the existing Aircare bottle filling line.   The system achieved a return on investment in one year and has continued to improve cost-efficiency and profitability.
 
Explains Jeyes Engineering Manager Geoph Holcroft:  “The Aircare bottle has a difficult circular shape in slippery PET that doesn’t stand up, so it has to be placed in a puck prior to filling and capping.  We used to have two operatives who took bottles from large boxes, re-orientated them and placed them in pucks prior to filling.”