Parts presentation and handling for packaging – case study : conceptualisation and prototyping of a flexible mechanism for the placing of plastic valves into pouches

Abstract

The concepts of Agile and Lean Manufacturing require a company to have the ability to quickly reconfigure its production facilities to meet a varying production demand, while at the same time eliminating all kinds of waste including the time taken to reconfigure the production line. In an automated environment this requires the development of automated production systems that can be easily reconfigured to process a mix of products that have similar geometric and production requirements i.e. a product family. In the case study presented here, we report on the development of a flexible parts presentation and handling system for the packaging of plastic valves into multi-compartment pouches. The system is intended to be applicable to various valves that, although irregularly shaped and different, have common features that can be exploited by the system. This paper presents the results of the ‘lean and agile design’ approach adopted in designing the reconfigurable automation system, the decisions made and the tools/methods used to objectively support such important decision making.