From automation and quick changeovers to sustainable materials and adaptable machinery, Cama Group Key Account Manager Lorenzo Birro explains how confectionery manufacturers can stay ahead of evolving consumer and retailer expectations
The confectionery sector is seeing a surge in demand for smaller portion sizes, convenience, and online shopping. How are these trends reshaping packaging requirements, and what challenges do they present for confectionery manufacturers?
There are two main challenges being brought by these trends: packaging speeds and time to market. If a line was designed for a certain range of sizes and packing speeds, reducing portions means increasing the number of packs to be managed. This requires higher performances in feeding systems and loaders. A modular approach to machine design at the early stage of the project allows for a future-proofing scenario, meaning, for example, that an extra loader or function can be added to an existing packaging system at a latter stage. The second challenge is time to market. Machine manufacturers need to be fast in providing upgrades to existing machinery, as marketing campaigns in supermarket chains have got fixed slot that cannot be missed. A structured approach in the technical files of the original supply allows for a more efficient process of design, manufacturing and installation of size parts, especially if in conjunction with a structured department that has a team of skilled people, dedicated to this kind of activity.
For confectionery producers adapting to changing packaging formats, vertical start-up efficiency is critical. How can manufacturers achieve a smooth transition when implementing new packaging solutions?
While approaching the purchase of new capital equipment, it is strategic to share with the equipment supplier the bigger picture. This means getting all stakeholders involved since day one, in this case especially marketing and sales, to include a range of immediately needed packaging formats but also of possible future ones. Such information allows the equipment supplier to design a packaging system that is future-proof. When the need for new sizes, most of the times smaller and thus faster, comes into the picture, the whole system has already been prepared in advance. When the time to commission a new size comes, a vertical start-up is achieved as all the hardware was already predisposed for it. It this approach is not feasible, vertical start-up can be achieved by performing a proof of principle with the OEM but also by deeply involving the packaging department of the OEM (for those who have it available and structured), so that the design of the packaging to be made is optimised also for the type of machine and packaging process of the specific production line.
What innovations or technologies ensure quick, seamless size changeovers without disrupting production efficiency?
The advent of electronically-driven machines opened up a huge spectrum of options to make machine changeovers seamless, tool-less and with extremely limited timing requirements. Position drives, RFID devices, servodrives are all part of the equation.
Nowadays we see casepackers having almost a fully automated changeover, made by the simple change of a recipe on the HMI of the machine. This reduces mistakes, makes changeovers replicable and reduces also the efforts operators are required. Let me make a couple of examples. If there is a need to move glue guns in a certain, specific position, in the old days an operator had to wear special gloves and move them by hand. Glue guns are very hot, which is a threat for operator safety. New generation machines have step drives, which can perform the same task automatically and with a higher degree of accuracy. Another situation might be related to blanks’ magazines. Instead of having to replace parts of adjusting them, again by recalling a specific recipe the machine changes automatically, making it simple and replicable even for less experienced operators in the factory.
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