are over 100 different variables and an extensible array with PackML. That allows machines to talk to each other.” That communication allows the control system to tell the packaging equipment to change in order to shift packaging to match the output of the production line.

Some of the new flexibility in packaging machinery comes through developments in embedded control devices and servo drives. “We have a product that has a controller embedded, and we add PLCs (programmable logic controllers) in the variable drive,” explains Jarrett Campbell, packaging segment manager at Schneider Electric, the French-based automation controls supplier with U.S. headquarters in Palatine, Ill. “Where that comes into play with the packaging machine is you have different functions with one drive. The changeover is embedded in the drive, so you don’t have to bring in a different machine. The drive with the distributed I/O

With the cost of robots coming down—and the cost of manual labor going up—robotic manipulators are becoming more popular as a way to add flexiblity to packaging equipment. “When people think of robotics, they think automotive, with arms welding car parts, but it’s really a controlled movement,” says Chris Wood, industry account manager for food at gearmotors and drives vendor SEW-Eurodrive USA, in Latham, S.C. “The robot might have an arm, but it could be something that moves back and forth. Or it could be an elevator that goes up and moves back down.”

Robotics have become cost effective also because the flexibility they bring has value. “I wish I had stock in robots because they’re taking over,” quips Harminder Singh, business development manager for the Global OEM Team at Rockwell Automation. “Robots are the easiest way to get the flexibility. We’re building the PLC to go right through the control to the robotics. It’s a cost-saver, since the price of robotics is coming down, but the most important part is the flexibility. The greatest cost savings comes from the flexibility because you can now dial in the changeover.”

Standards also play a significant role in enabling the integration and flexibility that packaging machine customers are calling for. “Integrated motion and logic brings packaging machines into the new era. It’s all one language now, and one programmer can do the whole line with IEC 61131,” observes Al Morin, the food and packaging end-user executive at automation vendor Bosch Rexroth Corp., in Hoffman Estates, Ill. “That allows OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) the capability to implement features in motion without having to do the developing. The open standards are the key.” IEC 61131 is an open standard language for PLCs, promulgated by the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Integrate devices

A packaging machine’s individual devices can be integrated, which gives operators the ability to make changeovers with fewer manual tasks. In some cases, no manual changes at all are required. The changeover can be done entirely from the human-machine interface (HMI). “When we talk integrated motion or modularity, we have an integrated servo drive, an intelligent servo,” says John Kowal, global manager at packaging controls vendor Elau Inc., in Schaumburg, Ill. “They’ve replaced conventional loaders and drives and motion controllers with a feedback cable and fieldbus. And we’ve integrated everything into a network that lets each machine have distributed control.”

Open standards let manufacturers bring the packaging machinery into the data loop with the rest of the manufacturing line. “The packaging is integrated into the whole manufacturing line,” says Wood, at SEW-Eurodrive. “At one end they’re making it, at the other end they’re packing it. Now it’s like a network on your computer.”

Flexibility, robotics, integration. These advances in packaging machines give end-users the ability to keep up with the demand for more variety in products and packaging. Some point to the marketing departments at OEMs as the drivers for flexibility and integration. But the technology developments that allow for these advances are also crucial. Now that these advances have been developed, there are competitive pressures in the OEMs’ marketplace that drive their adoption.  

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