GOVAERTS RECYCLING
from waste to top products
“Unloading products from a press using a robot and carrying out an automatic inspection using a camera”
When Govaerts Recycling was founded in 1995, our client had no experience in the recycling sector at all. However, they learned quickly and their production unit soon grew into a large machine park. A mix of continuous innovation and plenty of courage has seen them grow into the current market leader for the production of sustainable products from recycled plastic.
Initially, most of the products were handled manually. The manipulation and inspection of the products was carried out by operators. This resulted in a fairly long cycle time for each product. The cycle time is determined by the process and must therefore be respected.
But this also meant operators could not be deployed as efficiently. In addition, the handled products are heavy, which was not conducive to the ergonomics.
Checking the quality of the products was carried out visually by Govaerts Recycling employees. Not only was it a complex task to see all the small details, it also depended on who did the check and at what time.
To solve these challenges, we took the following actions:
- The various operations carried out by the Govaerts Recycling operators were clearly identified and mapped out.
- All the products to be handled were identified in a complete overview.
- Using the above analysis, a concept was developed to clearly identify the exact type of robot and its position.
- The same analysis was used to design a dynamically adjustable gripper.
- We reached a solution for the quality control of the products by using a Cognex vision camera.
- Everything was then integrated into the existing installation. We succeeded in forming a seamless whole.
This robotisation allows Govaplast Recycling to enjoy the following benefits:
- The result for our customer is that autonomy has increased from 5 minutes to 125 minutes, which has of course resulted in a huge profit.
- A second major benefit is that there is now continuous quality control, which no longer differs depending on the people carrying out the work.
- Govaerts recycling employees can now be deployed more efficiently, while the ergonomics have improved dramatically.
