int hershey casestudy 0

8/6/2019 Int Hershey CaseStudy 0

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CASE STUDY

THE HERSHEY

COMPANY


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2www.intelligrated.com

Please note: Intelligrated acquired Alvey palletizing productsthrough its purchase of the North and South Americanoperations of FKI Logistex in June 2009.

At the Hershey manu acturing acility where packagingsystems engineer Alex Diaz works, there is only oneconstant: constant change.

The plant manu actures Hershey products or anassortment o brands including Hershey s, Kit Kat and Cadbury , with a wide variety o low- to mid-velocity SKUs that can change seasonally, weekly,

Intelligrated integrates Alvey roboticand conventional palletizing system tohandle Hersheys wide range of product

Hybrid Palletizing Solution

Hits Sweet Spot for Hershey and even daily based on demand rom the Hersheymarketing team, retail stores, and consumers. For a company demanding this much exibility, itspackaging, logistics, and material handling solutionsmust be up to the task. This was the challenge whenthe Hershey engineering group looked to an Alveypalletizing solution rom Intelligrated ( ormerly FKI

Logistex) to success ully revamp and automate thepalletizing operations at the Hershey acility.

Until 2005, everything at the Hershey plant was hand-palletized, resulting in low palletizing rates and highmanual labor costs. We had three to our peoplepalletizing per line, per shi t, or three shi ts a day,says Diaz. So were talking about 12 to 15 peoplepalletizing at once, depending on how complicatedthe patterns were. Employees were also doing a lot oheavy li ting some boxes in excess o 50 pounds leading to ergonomic issues and sa ety concerns.

When Hersheys increasingly wide variety o productSKUs and packaging confgurations started to require

aster and more exible palletizing, Diaz and ellowHershey engineers knew it was time to make theswitch to an automated system. Automated palletizingpromised increased capacity, decreased labor costs, asa er work environment, and the versatility Hersheyrequired or its diverse product line.


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Diaz, along with project manager Dennis Empsonand sta engineer Matt Eroh, partnered with theIntelligrated team to design an automated palletizingsystem that could handle Hersheys low- to mid-velocity SKUs ranging rom one to 40 cases perminute. Keeping in mind that the entire system wouldneed to ft within the tight space constraints o theplants approximately 7000-square- oot palletizingarea, the team weighed their two best options:conventional and robotic palletizing.

Almost immediately, it became clear that conventionalpalletizing, while ast and cost-e ective, would notwork with Hersheys space restrictions. To implementa multi-line system with conventional palletizers, youneed enough accumulation conveyor to accommodateup to two ull pallet loads on each line, depending onload lengths and production rates and Hersheys eight

Hershey packaging systems engineer Alex Diaz (le t) andproject manager Dennis Empson (right) chose an Alvey hybridpalletizing system to handle a constantly changing product line.

production lines required signifcantly more conveyorthan they had space to accommodate.

Robotic palletizing, on the other hand, o ered a moreversatile option by enabling Hershey to send threedi erent lines to one robot and palletize in threedi erent positions at once. This greatly reduced theamount o conveyor required, but posed a problemo its own: The robots could not keep up with theproduction rates o Hersheys higher velocity SKUs.

Fitting Big Flexibility into a Small Space

Alvey Hybrids GivesHershey the Best Solution

The project team quickly realized that a combinationo robotic and conventional palletizing was the bestsolution to meet Hersheys requirements, given thelimited oor space available. They worked together todesign a system that sends mid- to high-velocity SKUsto an Alvey 780 case palletizer, and low-velocity SKUsto one o three Motoman EPL 160 jointed-arm robots.

A partnership between Intelligrated and Motoman, Inc.acilitated Hersheys transition to robotic palletizing,

a technology not previously introduced in thisacility. Most companies ocus their expertise on

either conventional or robotic palletizing, says Diaz.But the experience that Intelligrated has with bothtechnologies made the integration very easy and wasthe main reason that we chose to use a combination oboth to meet our palletizing requirements.

Intelligrateds Alvey hybrid design o ered Hersheythe best o both worlds and developed a uniquepalletizing solution or its product line.


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The new Hershey system includes a wide range otechnologies o ered by Intelligrated, includingthe Alvey 780 case palletizer; photo-eye Accuglideaccumulation conveyor, gravity roller conveyors; chain-

driven live roller (CDLR) conveyors and motor-operatedturntables; a high-speed, laser-positioned trans er car;and high-speed V-Belt live roller (VBLR) conveyors.The stand-alone PLC control system eatures ullycustomized code work by Intelligrated.

Diaz and his crew were especially impressedwith the photo-eye Accuglide powered roller conveyor,which provides zero-pressure accumulation o cartons.

The Accuglide conveyors are excellent, says Diaz.And the act that the Intelligrated team was able to

integrate all these conveyors with their equipmentmade it much easier or us to get the completepackage.

Intelligrated maintains the breadth o product linethat allowed Hershey to choose the equipment thatbest suited their requirements or the lowest cost.A lot o integrators make the same claim but many

times they orce their limited product line intoan application instead o applying the bestavailable solution.

One o the biggest challenges o the project wasfnding an end-o -arm tool or the robots that couldhandle Hersheys wide variety o SKU sizes andweights. Although Intelligrated typically designs andmanu actures the tooling or the robots they integrate,the team decided to outsource the end-o -arm toolbased on the product specifcations or this project.They chose to use a UniGripper exible vacuum tool

rom Tepro Machine & Pac System, which activatesspecifc vacuum areas to create the necessary li ting

orces or each package, based on the shape and

location o cases programmed into the system. Iveinstalled some other robots, and this was by ar theeasiest-to-use and most versatile end-o -arm toolI have ever worked with, says Empson.

A Fully Integrated Solution

The Alvey 780 palletizes higher speed SKUs at a rate o up to 37 carton per minute.


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An Intelligrated laser positioned rail running trans er car bringscompleted loads rom the robots to a turn table that directsthem to the stretch wrapper.

The new palletizing system gives Hershey the capabilityto easily integrate the remaining hand-palletized linesinto the automated system by adding a spur conveyorand possibly a ourth robot based on uture demand.

This built-in exibility is something that Diaz agreesshould be standard on all material handling systems.

Most o the SKUs that we started the project withwere not being produced by the time we got thesystem running, says Diaz. Three new patternswere added to the Alvey 780 palletizer be ore on-

site work began, and up to 50 percent o productsizes and patterns were changed be ore installationwas complete. Because o these packaging changes,Hershey commissioned the installation o patterngeneration so tware or the Alvey 780, which Hersheyhad chosen not to include in the original system design.

At frst, when our packaging department cameto us with a new pattern we had to send it to theIntelligrated team to make changes to the PLC code,explains Diaz. This process required an engineer to

Palletizing System FeaturesBuilt-In Flexibility for Future Change

analyze the new pattern requirements, ensure thatexisting patterns would not be adversely a ected,program the changes, and then upload the codeback to us. With the Intelligrated pattern generationso tware, the Hershey plant operator can directlyprogram the new pattern into the palletizer, test it,and have it operational in a matter o hours. The so tware is controlled by an easy-to-use touchscreen display directly connected to the Alvey 780.A ter entering a password-protected utility mode,

Hershey plant operators can add new patterns andmake changes in real time. The pattern generationso tware is a recommendation I would give anyone orthis type o system, continues Diaz. It gives us the

exibility to make changes ourselves and get the newpackaging confgurations up and running quickly. Withsix new SKUs it pays or itsel .

As part o the contract, on-site Alvey palletizertraining was provided to more than 30 Hersheyemployees, including all o the plants orkli toperators and electrical technicians. Select Hersheymechanics also visited Motoman or additionaltraining on the robotic palletizers.

Once we reached the point where the operators werecom ortable with the system, weve been runninge fciently, says Diaz. The act that we have yet tocall Intelligrated to make adjustments to the system

is a testament to just how well the training worked,adds Empson.

Training for Hershey Plant Operators


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From the Kitchento the Consumer

In the main hallway o theHershey manu acturing acility,an overhead system o conveyorsand merges bring cartons ofnished Hershey products to thepalletizing room rom variousproduction operations aroundthe plant.

SKUs with high production ratesenter on the high-speed line,which leads directly to the Alvey780 case palletizer. A bar codescanner identifes each SKU andits associated pattern, letting theAlvey 780 immediately palletizeup to 37 cartons per minute.Positively driven, heavy-dutychain-driven live roller (CDLR)conveyors and a motor-operatedturntable direct each completeload to a stretchwrapper capableo handling up to 60 loadsper hour.

Lower-velocity SKUs enter thepalletizing room via three lineso case conveyor. Cartons arescanned and sorted at up to25 cartons per minute by air-operated right-angle pushersinto seven lines eeding threeMotoman EPL 160 jointed-armrobots, or bypass the robots toan optional hand-palletizinglane. The robotic portion o thesystem uses a laser-positionedrail-running trans er car totrans er the palletized loads tothe turntable with high speedand accuracy. The turntable thendirects the palletized loads tothe stretchwrapper.

The entire system eeds asingle drop-o point, where

ork trucks take the loads tothe storage area until they areshipped to a distribution center(DC) or direct retail to massmarkets. All the products in theautomated palletizing processare palletized on cardboard slipsheets instead o traditionalwooden pallets. By removinga pallet dispenser we saved twothings: space and money, Diazexplains. We do not ship onpallets, so the orkli t operatorsonly need to drive one type o

orkli t now instead o two.

The integration team aced an aggressive timelineor installation o the new palletizing system.

Once the installation process began, the Hersheyteam tore out conveyors, vacuum li ts, and otherhand-palletizing equipment and employed handpalletizing in other areas throughout the plant.

Crews worked multiple shi ts and overtime in avery tight space, but their hard work paid o . Weinstalled the entire system in fve weeks and had itcommissioned in three and a hal weeks, says Diaz.Working long hours, Hershey engineers checked the wiring o the entire system in lessthan three days, an impressive eat. Intelligrated customer service engineers (CSEs)

provided Hershey with technical support during installation and commissioning to helpthe team get the project completed.

We had a CSE come out who was excellent on both the conventional palletizer and therobot, says Diaz. He got up to speed very quickly and worked with us to move theproject to completion.

Hershey Engineers Beat the Clock

Since the completion o the project in June 2006, Hershey has seen increases inpalletizing speed and e fciency, and has had no major problems with the equipment orthe system to report. The equipment, which has proven to be reliable, is saving Hersheya great deal o money on manual labor costs, as well as greater potential savings romreducing ergonomic complaints.

Hershey engineers are happy with the systems per ormance, and Empson has calledthe palletizing solution the latest and greatest in Hershey material handling systems.Intelligrateds team agrees that this has been a very success ul project or everyoneinvolved and looks orward to continuing to provide Hershey with the best materialhandling solutions on the market.

Throughout the course o his frst major material handling project, Diaz says he learned alot about adapting to new technologies and being prepared or uture change. Basically,nearly everything you plan has changed by the time you implement it, notes Diaz,re erring to the constant packaging changes he aced during the project. Changecomes quickly- and you have to adapt to it as quickly as possible to be success ul.

Safe, Reliable, and Easy-to-MaintainSolution Provides a Real ROI

Hershey has used Alvey palletizers ormore than 30 years. The Alvey Series

300 automated palletizer, introducedin 1959, is shown here handling cases

o Hersheys Kisses in the 1970s.


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System Overview:

1 Intelligrated Alvey 780 case palletizerwith slip sheet dispenser

3 Motoman robotic arms withUniGripper intelligent vacuum tools

Intelligrated Accuglide conveyor Intelligrated belt conveyor Intelligrated V-Belt live roller

(VBLR) conveyor

Intelligrated E-Z Set liveroller conveyor

Intelligrated gravity roller conveyor Intelligrated chain-driven

live roller (CDLR)

Intelligrated merges Intelligrated laser-positioned transfer car Intelligrated motor-operated turntable

Intelligrated air-operated pushers ITW Muller Octopus stretch wrapper

Conveyor System:

Intelligrated

Robotic Arms:

Motoman

Intelligent Vacuum Tool:

Tepro Machine & Pac System

Controls & Programming Software:

Intelligrated

System Design:

Intelligrated

System Integration:

Intelligrated

Hershey Palletizing System Overview


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Systems Integration Sortation Systems Conveyor Systems Palletizing Solutions So tware & Controls Order Ful llment Systems 24x7 Technical Support Design & Build

Intelligrated Productsand Services

Intelligrated Support

The in-house Customer Service and Support (CSS)program o ered by Intelligrated backs all o our

products. Services available include:

Individual repairs System audits Scheduled maintenance On-site operator training Spare parts Modifcations

CSS is available 24/7 to provide all o the servicesneeded to keep your equipment running atpeak e fciency. Whether its on-site support ortroubleshooting via our hotline, Intelligrated hasthe most comprehensive customer support programin the industry.

Service and Parts HotlinePhone + 1 877.315.3400www.ontimeparts.com

CSH01 9.09 2009 Intelligrated. All rights reserved. Alvey is a Registered trademark o Intelligrated Inc.

7901 Innovation Way, Mason, Ohio 45040 + 1 866.936.7300in [email protected] www.intelligrated.com

For more information, contact:

Headquarters in Mason, Ohio

About Intelligrated

Intelligrated is a leading American-owned suppliero automated material handling solutions with

operations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.Headquartered in Mason, Ohio, a northern suburbo Cincinnati, Intelligrated is a manu acturer andsolutions provider o high-speed sortation, conveyorand material handling so tware and controlsallsupported by 24x7 Customer Service.

The acquisition in 2009 o automated materialhandling supplier FKI Logistex (www. kilogistex.expands the Intelligrated product line to includeAlvey palletizers, Real Time Solutions order

ulfllment systems, and Crisplant tilt-trayand cross-belt sorters.

Intelligrated provides world-class material handlingsolutions or the warehousing, distribution, consumerproduct manu acturing, airport, post andparcel markets.

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