When it comes to providing innovative end-of-line packaging machines, Delkor Systems of Circle Points, MN is the complete package. For over 30 years, the company has been providing customers -- in industries ranging from dairy and grocery to automotive supplies -- with custom packaging machines that increase efficiency, reduce costs, and address challenging application needs. To help it accomplish its goal, Delkor depends on another industry innovator, PIAB Vacuum Products of Hingham, MA.
Delkor is known for its patented Spot-Pak® flat-pad packaging solution. This unique technology has opened the door for many products to be packaged with flat corrugated pads, in place of traditional boxes or trays. With Spot-Pak, a light temporary bonding adhesive is applied to points on the corrugated pad where the product makes contact. This temporary bond keeps the containers in position on the flat pad during the packaging process. As a result, many products that traditionally required either a tray or box as the distribution shipper can now be packaged with Spot-Pak. In fact, nearly every home refrigerator in the U.S. contains dairy products that were packaged on Delkor’s Spot-Pak equipment.
Solid Track Record
Spot-Pak has an attractive track record when it comes to cost savings, too. By eliminating the need for a tray or box, the corrugated cost for shipping a product to market is often cut by 40 to 60%. In addition, the Spot-Pak package uses only a fraction of the corrugated used in boxes and trays, thereby addressing the important issue of reducing packaging material content where possible.
Of course, delivery of the containers to just the right spot on the flat pad is an essential element of the system. To help accomplish this goal consistently, Delkor turned to PIAB Vacuum Products. This manufacturer of industrial vacuum products and components not only has packaging expertise, but also has created solutions specifically for handling and moving dairy products.
“PIAB is a recognized and highly respected name in our industry,” said David O’Brien, engineering and operations manager at Delkor. “We’ve worked with a few different vacuum pump and suction cup providers in the past, but recently with the growth of Delkor’s business, we saw a need to standardize. It made sense for all the machines to use the same vacuum pump technology, and PIAB products have advantages over the other products that made them the clear choice.”
Delkor is currently using PIAB’s VGS™ 3010 vacuum gripper systems in its Spot-Pak machines to pick up and transfer yogurt cups, bottles, and other package ingredients. The bottles and cups enter the machine’s infeeds, where the product is collated into lanes and arranged into specific pack patterns. The pick-up head descends, with one vacuum suction cup per container, and transports the product across a right angle to the flat pad board, where it is lowered into the appropriate position. The vacuum cups are also used to pick up the flat pad itself, which is placed on a conveyor and sent downstream to the next packaging stage.
Packaging at Higher Speeds
The VGS 3010 is designed specifically for reliable packaging at higher speeds. It features PIAB’s vacuum cartridge-based COAX® technology, which integrates the internal components of a multi-stage vacuum pump into a vacuum cartridge and results in a smaller, more efficient, more reliable and highly flexible solution.
“The VGS 3010 is more compact and easier to work with than other vacuum systems with which we’ve worked,” said O’Brien. “It just fits better into our machine, with easy mounting for fast, seamless installation. Its small size also offers aesthetic advantages – it doesn’t stick out or call attention to itself.”
The VGS 3010’s decentralized design also greatly reduces energy costs for Delkor’s customers. Unlike traditional systems that use a centrally located vacuum pump, the VGS 3010 generates a vacuum directly at the point of suction, reducing energy consumption while preventing pressure loss. Additionally, the system’s flexible design eliminates the need for multiple end effectors when handling different shapes and sizes, resulting in quick and easy changeover and reduced downtime.
Of course, O’Brien appreciates the elimination of downtime with the PIAB solution.
“The reliability certainly has picked up since we switched over completely to the VGS 3010,” O’Brien said. “In fact, we’ve literally had zero problems with the PIAB units. Downtime, once a concern, is now a non-issue. We just put the PIAB system on, and it works every time.”
Delkor works with an extraordinary variety of products in many different sizes and shapes. So the versatility and variety of PIAB’s suction cups is also extremely important.
Versatility, Efficiency Are Key
“Our systems are used to transport and package anything from a yogurt bottle to an automotive grease cartridge,” O’Brien explained, “and each item poses its own unique challenges. For example, the cap configurations on the yogurt bottles are extremely varied. And the grease cartridges, which we pick up five at a time, are quite heavy. The PIAB suction cups have to be both flexible and durable to accommodate such a breadth of products.”
The unique dual-hardness of PIAB’s Duraflex® oval suction cups, featured in the VGS 3010, makes them ideal for applications where micro-leakage can occur, such as with corrugated cardboard. Also, by providing both the strength and flexibility needed to seal uneven or coarse surfaces, the Duraflex cups ensure a reliable grip during a variety of packaging applications like carton erecting or palletizing.
Delkor has taken full advantage of PIAB’s wide range of suction cup offerings, using cups ranging in size from 4 in. in diameter down to ¾ in.
“We use thousands of these suction cups,” O’Brien said, “with a single cup assigned to each item needing transfer. Our machines pick up as few as 4 at one time, and as many as 48; that requires 48 suction cups. And with every customer needing different pack patterns – some want 6 packs, others want 8 or 12 – we can often have 3 or 4 different pickup heads on one system.”
The versatility and efficiency of Delkor’s Spot-Pak machine owe a lot to the versatility and efficiency of PIAB technology.
“The same machine which is able to package a 12 lb container of potato salad or 50 lb worth of boxed grease, we might use in another application for 8 oz yogurt containers at 600 cups/minute. The unique functionality and reliability of the PIAB system allows us to tackle this wide range of packaging applications and meet customer needs without downtime, without worries, and without problems,” O’Brien concluded.