Specially developed Gudel component handling equipment, providing just 20mm clearance with the roof of the installation site, has been incorporated at the heart of new pan handling system streamlining bread making at Allied Bakeries' West Bromwich production plant. The custom-engineered z-axis module from the Coventry-based automation specialist has been specified by leading bakery equipment manufacturer, J F Turkington to provide precise transfer and location of the bread making containers within the application's severe height constraints. Enabling costly manual methods to be superseded at the customer's site, the Gudel equipment forms a key element in a versatile handling system that services three storage areas and feeds two automated baking lines with a fresh baking pan every 2.5 seconds, 24 hours a day, 6.1/2 days a week.
'Our equipment must not only meet stringent hygiene regulations, but also has to perform with total reliability.
In particular, it must operate round-the-clock in an environment containing airborne flour dust, which can be highly abrasive to mechanical components,' notes Gudel UK's joint managing director, John Niven.
To meet Allied Bakeries' requirements, Gudel worked closely with Turkington to devise a double gantry handling solution incorporating several novel features.
These include customised mechanical grippers capable of accommodating three variants of baking tin and handling between 13 and 18 tins at a time, depending on type.
'We opted to use Gudel precision multi-axis positioning equipment at the heart of our design because of the company's excellent reputation for providing systems to meet the most demanding operating conditions,' comments Turkington's technical director Anthony Morant.
'Gudel handling modules are used extensively throughout the automotive and metal cutting sectors, as well as in foundry, nuclear, pharmaceutical, aerospace defence and electronics industry applications.
Its products are also backed by a wealth of applications engineering experience, which is one of the reasons we have established such a strong relationship with Gudel over the past seven years,' continues Mr Morant.
'This is the fifth Turkington installation to incorporate their equipment during this period.' A member of the Swiss-based Gudel AG engineering group, Gudel UK develops and supplies modular-based solutions for positioning components weighing from a few grams to several tonnes with extreme accuracy and repeatability.
Systems are typically used for high volume metal working, assembly or manufacturing applications - in particular within the automotive, aerospace, defence, machine tool, electronics and process sectors.
Coventry-based Gudel UK has grown consistently since its establishment in the early 1990s at the hub of UK's communication network.
Today, its end users include leading international engineering and manufacturing organisations such as: Mercedes, BMW, Daimler-Benz, Ford, General Motors, Philips, KUKA, Cosworth, Ultraseal, Heller, Landis Lund, Audi and Toyoda.