Cartoning machine for MultiPac

Requirements

Boxes instead of blisters

There are service providers and then there are service providers. Some of them reliably process orders and in doing so offer an extended workbench. Others take a more proactive stance, drive developments forward and offer their customers outstanding added value.

MultiPac is most definitely one of the more innovative providers. The assembly and packaging specialist, based in Ellwangen, Germany, packages a wide range of consumer goods on behalf of other companies. And for its dedicated employees, continuously improving things is part of the job.

As a result, it is hardly surprising that MultiPac looks well beyond its own packaging. With ‘Blufixx’, for example, the company introduced a repair system with UV-curing plastic that makes it easier to carry out simple repairs on glass, stoneware, porcelain and plastic. Packaging and preserving, so to speak, with a sustainable approach that has clearly taken root.

Back to packaging, where the focus is also on sustainability. Varta – known for its vast range of batteries and energy storage solutions – recently parted ways with one of its long-standing packaging formats. They were planning to phase out the plastic thermoformed blister packs used to package the compact AA and AAA batteries that power small appliances in many households.

Instead, the batteries will now be sold in folding boxes made of environmentally friendly cardboard. With this in mind, the decision-makers at Varta approached MultiPac – and were met with a very receptive team. The co-packer saw the enquiry as an opportunity to expand its portfolio. Until then, MultiPac did not have any cartoners in its machine fleet.

Solution

A cartoner made in Crailsheim

No reason to turn down the project – after all, there’s Schubert. Ellwangen has two Schubert cobots that quickly pick up unsorted random products, such as air fresheners or glue sticks and place them, for example, into trays. The experience MultiPac had gained with the automated machines made them eager for more.

And the Varta order called for more than just your average solution. Three different box formats had to be erected and filled with twelve, 18 and 24 batteries of different types – in the smallest possible space and, of course, as efficiently as possible.

Based on Schubert’s concept, the cartoners is designed to comprise only two modules. The concept delivers maximum performance in a limited space: a four-lane magazine, an F2 erecting robot, a Transmodul, a grouping system as well as one F2 filling and one F2 sealing and transfer robot each are lined up in a row – over a length of just under six metres – to pack an impressive 1,100 batteries per minute.

“We knew that Schubert’s TLM systems, with their modular design and format flexibility, had redefined industry standards. Since we were impressed with the cobots, we were keen to find out what the TLM cartoners could do for us – and we weren’t disappointed.”

Matthias Meyer-Böhringer

Managing Director, MultiPac

Technical details

Output: 1100 batteries per minute with a total machine length of just 6 metres
Flow sensors in the vacuum system ensure reliable pick & place operations
Transmodul in use

Erected, opened blue cardboard boxes are filled with batteries from above.

Folding in perfect sync

Especially important for MultiPac was that the boxes had to be entirely filled – not an easy task with packaging designed to be tight enough to ensure that the layers are as stable as possible. Schubert mastered the challenge with skill and high precision.

Special sensors determine the flow in the F2 filling robot’s vacuum system and detect whether the suction tools have picked up the pre-grouped batteries securely and in their entirety. The filling robot then precisely places six batteries into the folding box in two, three or four layers.

The four-lane magazine delivers full performance as well and continuously supplies the F3 transfer unit and the F2 erector robot with blanks. The magazine can hold 4,800 pieces – enough for an hour of uninterrupted box folding.

For each blank, the F2 robot first applies the desired bead of hot melt adhesive to the blank in a precisely programmed movement. The robot then presses the blank vertically through the folding frame onto the Transmodul, completing three steps in a single movement – erecting, gluing and depositing.

From that point on, the system literally never lets go of the boxes: the Transmodul transports the folded boxes to the filling robot. At the same time, the batteries coming from the warehouse are fed into a grouping system and brought to the loading area. The F2 robot picks up eight times six batteries at a time. In a matter of seconds, it places the batteries precisely into eight folding boxes on the Transmodul.

At the end of 2024, after a week of installation, the system was approved – laying the foundation for highly efficient cartoning. “Both teams complemented each other and brought what is now their second joint project to a successful conclusion,” highlights Georg Spötta, Project Manager and Sales Expert at Schubert. Schubert designed the line with foresight so that it can carton entirely different products in addition to batteries – and grow along with MultiPac’s requirements.