Packaging Line Research Articles

Dynamic control of cardboard-blank picking by using reinforcement learning

Abstract Standard packaging lines with high output rates often struggle when dealing with uncertainties in the conditions of the handled materials. This paper focuses on a piece of machinery in an automatic packaging line, namely an automated apparatus that extracts cardboard blanks from a buffer and transfers them to the next section through suction cups. In this context, the success of the operation depends on various controllable parameters, disturbances, and time-dependent variables, whose mutual relationships are not easily identifiable and whose understanding has so far been entrusted to the experiential knowledge of human operators. Currently, drops in picking success rates require the machine to be stopped and operators to intervene on-site, making use of their expertise to identify the issue and recalibrate the machine. To address the problem, this paper presents an artificial-intelligence-enabled controller, capable of continuously and autonomously recalibrating the apparatus and compensating for disturbances, in order to avoid missed or incorrectly picked cardboard blanks. In particular, this work exploits experimental data to build a model of the system, on which a reinforcement-learning algorithm is trained. The controller is tasked with regulating the controllable parameters while monitoring process variables. The developed agent is tested on the real apparatus to assess its performance.

Exergo-economic approach for comprehensive evaluation of the performance of industrial-scale milk and coffee beverage process lines

This study aimed to perform comprehensive analyses of the performance of the industrial-scale production of three different beverages (whole milk, black coffee, and milk coffee) in carton aseptic and glass bottle packaging process lines from raw material to the secondary packed final product by using innovative exergo-economic approach to promote a detailed data for a sustainable, performance-efficient production and economy in beverage industry. System performance efficiencies (energy and exergy) for the whole of production lines and individual processing steps were determined, and the exergo-economic performance of the industrial productions of three different beverages was compared. The maximum overall exergy efficiencies for glass bottle and carton aseptic packaging lines were as 52.57 % and 55.90 %, respectively, in whole milk production whereas the minimum overall exergy efficiencies were for these lines were 47.39 % and 48.67 %, respectively, for milk coffee production. For whole milk, the process steps having the minimum exergy efficiency were the filling step in carton aseptic (23.14 %±1.25) and the seperation step (26.90 %±1.09) in glass bottle packaging lines. For black coffee and milk coffee productions, the process step with the highest improvement potential was the homogenization/deaeration step for both carton aseptic and glass bottle packaging lines. The highest exergy destruction costs were obtained for the milk coffee; 72.52±0.03$/MJ for carton aseptic package and 63.82±1.85$/MJ for glass bottle. The most cost-efficient process was determined to be the black coffee in the carton aseptic packaging line due to the minimum product cost rate (89.71±2.39 $/MJ). It is thought that this study contributes valuable information on the approach of the comparing the performance of different production lines using exergo-economic evaluation.

Norovirus GII.17 Caused Five Outbreaks Linked to Frozen Domestic Bilberries in Finland, 2019.

In March 2019, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and Finnish Food Authority started an outbreak investigation after a notification of food business operators' recall of frozen bilberries due to a norovirus finding. A retrospective search was conducted in the food and waterborne outbreak notification system to identify the notifications linked to norovirus and consumption of bilberries in January-March 2019. Five outbreaks were found in which norovirus GII or GII.17 had been detected in patient samples. A pooled retrospective cohort study was performed for those four in which a questionnaire study had been done. A case was defined as a person with diarrhoea or vomiting within 2 days after consuming a meal studied at one of the outbreak locations. Of 79 participants, 45 (57%) cases were identified. Persons that had consumed foods containing unheated bilberries were three times more likely to get ill than those who had not consumed them (RR 3.1, CI 95% 1.2-8.1, p = 0.02). Norovirus GII.17 was found in 16/17 patient samples sent for further typing. Identical norovirus GII.17 was detected in frozen Finnish bilberries and patient samples. At the berry packaging premises, signs of norovirus GII contamination were found in packaging lines. A new procedure for extracting viral nucleic acid from food and environmental samples was used during the outbreak investigation. Consumption of industrially packed frozen berries as heated would be one of the means to prevent norovirus infections.

Powder Detergent Packaging Line Improvement by Lean Six Sigma DMAIC Methodology

This investigation was a case of study in the powder detergent packaging line and aimed to reduce all those wastes that do not add value to the product, increasing the cost of production. Reducing or eliminating waste within the manufacturing industry becomes necessary for sustainable businesses over time and keeps generating development. To achieve it, the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology was implemented in a detergent powder packaging line, to identify the problems that afflicted and made production more expensive. By using quality tools (such as Pareto and Ishikawa diagrams, 5S application, Poka-Yokes, SMED, training personnel, and standardizing processes) it was possible to reduce unproductive times. Energy consumption was reduced by up to 20 %, also efficiency and machine availability increased by 10.98 % and 7.32 %, respectively. The general performance of the line increased by 15.16 %, which translates into significant monthly savings of USD 71 442.05. By applying these improvement techniques, the most significant efficiency was registered in 1 kg packages, going from 47 % to 89 %, approximately. To maintain this productivity and even to perfect it, it is necessary to hire specialized personnel who know the production processes and industrial operations.

Fast Schedule Recovery Method for Semiconductor Packaging Lines With Machine Failures and Constrained Time Windows

Fast Schedule Recovery Method for Semiconductor Packaging Lines With Machine Failures and Constrained Time Windows

Application of a Digital Twin Model in the Packaging Process of the Panel Furniture Industry

Abstract The packaging process in panel furniture manufacturing enterprises is the final process in production. However, there exists a lack of effective interaction and integration between the manufacturing processes and the information system. This challenge becomes more significant in the context of intelligent manufacturing. To address this, we propose a generalized digital twin workshop model for the packaging process in panel furniture manufacturing enterprises. Using this model, we establish a digital twin workshop for Company W’s packaging process, which improves interaction and integration with the information system. By analyzing the data from the workshop service system and the workshop twin data, we identify inefficiencies in the automatic packaging line and propose an optimization scheme using the digital twin workshop model. Through simulation in the virtual workshop and actual verification, we demonstrate that the proposed scheme improves the production efficiency of the automatic packaging line by approximately 20 percent and reduces the need for 5 to 6 packaging workers. Our study presents a new solution for upgrading the information system in the packaging process of panel furniture, contributing to the development and optimization of the furniture industry in the era of intelligent manufacturing.

A Possible Alternative to Mining in Valea Jiului

Abstract Starting from the interdependence of tourism - mountain environment - rural environment - sustainable development, four solutions are proposed and developed in the work as an alternative to mining in the area: tourist village, medicinal plant and forest fruit processing line, milk processing line, cardboard packaging line.

Serialized Barcode Printing Solution for Drug Traceability: An Architectural Design and Approach

Medicine serialization seems to be a key to both counterfeiting and the complex supply chain of the pharmaceutical industry, including recalls and returns. Though there are countries that use serialization as a legal necessity, it is still a developing topic within the industry. Serialization is not just for anti-counterfeit technology but also to use supply chain and stock management more proficiently. The design of the Barcode is a fundamental requirement as per Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA) guidelines for serialized products. Encoding Barcodes on pharmaceutical drugs with critical product attributes is necessary for tracking and validating product sources. Since the serialization guidelines are regulated, small-scale pharmaceutical companies are struggling to comply with regulations due to heavy investments. Printing Serialized labels with barcodes required specialized third-party systems and software. The cost of third-party systems that integrate with ERP and Serialized systems for exchanging data is very expensive. On the other hand, the operational and sustainability costs of these systems will be an additional year-to-year cost for the company.
 Aim: This Study investigated the feasibility of designing a barcode printing solution for drug traceability.
 Material and Method: A case study has been carried out at a USA-based generic pharmaceutical company to print serialized labels using their enterprise Resource planning (ERP) integrated with the packaging line.
 Result: This dynamic solution for serialized label printing saves the company a significant number of resources and money, as they do not need to buy any specialized third-party system to print the label or send back the product to the packaging line.
 Conclusion: In this paper, we implement and validate a dynamic solution to print 2D data matrix and 1D Linear barcodes successfully within an ERP system by eliminating the need for a specialized third-party printing system.

Optimization of logistics processes of transportation of raw materials and materials

One of the main tasks of the economic activity of enterprises is to provide production with material resources because of the logistic approach. Any downtime reduced work efficiency causes financial losses for the company. To reduce losses caused by delivery problems, optimizing logistics processes is becoming increasingly crucial for the modern automotive industry. The paper examines the main theoretical directions of optimizing the transportation of materials and raw materials and characterizes their role in preventing the stoppage of the technological process. At a production enterprise of any industrial direction, the technological process or packaging line is stopped due to a shortage of raw materials, equipment components, or packaging materials. The scenarios of production recovery were considered. The scheme and stages of the logistics process are analyzed: external and internal logistics. In connection with the large variety of parts and their application on the production line, the paper considers the compelling concept of determining the "sequencing point". For a complete understanding of the construction of logistics supply chains according to the JIT principle, each element of the parts delivery scheme is considered. Any manufacturing industry faces a fundamental dilemma: higher inventory costs and lower shipping costs due to fewer shipments or vice versa. Today, it is practically impossible to ensure the daily transportation of the required number of parts, that is, to foresee the formation of small batches without the involvement of warehouses, which is explained by the large number of required parts. Logistics connections' main task is dividing work by stages of goods movement, leading to individual processes' division. The solution to this task is carried out by organizing within a single process the movement of materials and information along the entire chain from the producer to the consumer, ensuring the interaction of individual stages and coordinating the actions of all participants in the logistics chain. Keywords: consumers, logistics chain, downtime, transportation, logistics processes.

A Case Study on Sustainable Production and Use of Compressed Air in European Industrial Sites of Medium-sized

Due to the urgency in climate change, the industry is mobilized to reduce its greenhouse gases. Compressed air represents nearly 10% of electricity used in industry. The research was carried out in an industrial food site in Europe. This research includes a case study and gives a specific approach and methodology to optimize environmental and economic impact of compressed air production and uses in an industrial site. The installation of this case study contains different type of compressed air, dryers, and filters. Each equipment has been subject to specific monitoring and analysis. Several actions have been identified for reducing carbon emissions by 69 tons such as: reduction of the compressed air pressure of the system, isolation of packaging lines when they are not running, implementation of pumps for vacuum generation on packaging lines, installation of smart management device and a heat recovery system. Financial savings are around 44 000 euros, and the average payback is below 3 years.

УПРАВЛЕНЧЕСКИЙ УЧЕТ: МОДЕРНИЗАЦИЯ ДЕЙСТВУЮЩЕГО ПРОИЗВОДСТВА ПУТЕМ ВВОДА НОВОГО ВЫПУСКАЕМОГО ПРОДУКТА

In modern conditions of competition in business, management accounting is designed to quickly respond to new technological opportunities for expanding the range of products, including through modernization, the purchase of additional equipment and the production of products using waste from existing production. The purpose of the study is to develop a management solution for the development of new production on the existing raw material base (waste from existing production) through the timely application of management accounting tools (monitoring, business planning). An algorithm for the implementation of the project was determined by classifying the factors influencing the growth of production volume, product sales and improving its quality. The initial costs for the preparation and launch of a new production on the basis of the existing one will amount to 48.2 million rubles, the estimated annual profit from the production of liquid organic fertilizers is 264.6 million rubles. The main principles for the formation of favorable micro- and macroeconomic conditions in management accounting are proposed: monitoring studies of the internal and external environment, business planning. Their implementation will contribute to the adoption of managerial decisions on the introduction of new production by analyzing their own capabilities (resources) and attracting borrowed funds, taking into account the demand and places of sale of the manufactured product. It is proposed to combine the stages of commissioning a new production facility (construction and launch of a production complex for biohumus production, a complex for obtaining liquid organic fertilizer; construction and launch of a bottling and packaging line for liquid organic fertilizer) with the stages of implementing a product output project, which favorably affects efficiency.

Keep looking until you find

Abstract The patient is 24-years old male with no previous medical history. He has worked for the last 3 years in the packaging line of Divigel, the estradiol gel of the pharmaceutical company Orion. He sought medical attention 11/2014 due to soreness of both breasts, that had continued for a few weeks. In laboratory tests taken in primary health care, E2 was elevated at 0.49 nmol/l (reference range <0.15 nmol/l), LH immeasurably low (1,7–8,6 U/l), testosterone 33 nmol/l (10–38 nmol/l). Liver and thyroid values were normal. An ultrasound examination of the breasts revealed gynecomastia: mammary gland tissue was seen under the nipple on both sides, 2 cm on the left, 1.5 cm on the right. The ultrasound examination of the testicles did not reveal any abnormality. The patient was referred to the endocrinology outpatient clinic. E2 was then 0,236 nmol/l, testosterone 42, free testosterone 547 pmol/l (190–560 pmol/l), SHGB 51 (18–54 nmol/l), LH <0,10 U/l, FSH 0,12 U/l (1,5–12,4 U/l), PRL 426 (86–324 mU/l), hCG elevated 37 U/l (<2 U/l) and free β-hCG 5,8 pmol/l (<2 pmol/l). In 12/2014, the patient underwent a CT scan of the body and ultrasound examination of the testicles was repeated: no abnormality was found in either examination. 18F-FDG PET/CT of the body was performed in the same month, also with normal findings. At the beginning of 2015, MRI examinations of the mediastinum, lower and upper abdomen, and head were performed; no explanation was found. Cerebrospinal fluid hCG, which was low <1,0 IU/l, and S-AFP, which was 2 kU/l (<10 kU/l), were also checked. At follow-up, hCG continued to rise to 135 U/l and E2 to 0.424 nmol/l. Imaging studies were repeated: CT of the body was performed in 11/2015 and 8/2015, ultrasound examination of the testicles in 4/2015, 8/2015 and 12/2015. In 3/2016, a 11C-metionine PET/MRI of the body was performed. No abnormal findings were found. In the sixth ultrasound examination of the testicles in 6/2016, a 5×6 mm low-echo, solid tumor was finally found on the surface of the left testicle at the very front edge. No abnormalities were found in the right testicle. Testicular operation was performed 6/2016. Findings suitable for seminoma were found in the ice section, after which the left testicle was removed. Histopathological findigs were consistent with seminoma. In immunostaining, the tumor cells were PLAP- and CD117-positive, and a widely positive reaction was seen around the tumor in the seminiferous tubules, consistent with carcinoma in situ findings. CD30-, CKPan-, hCG-, inhibin- and AFP-stainings were negative. The findings were consistent with seminoma, and no other germ cell tumor components were found. After surgery, E2 and hCG values normalized. Abdominal CT examination did not reveal any metastases. Follow-up by an oncologist continued for five years, and no signs of recurrence were found. Sometimes we know what we are looking for, but reaching a diagnosis may require persistence and repeated examinations.

МИКРОБНАЯ КОНТАМИНАЦИЯ ВОЗДУХА В ЦЕХАХ УБОЯ ПТИЦЫ

Salmonella, coli group bacteria, staphylococci, molds and yeast have been isolated from poultry slaughter- ing department air during the research. The results show the necessity of regular monitoring of air microbial contamina- tion with using modern air sampling at all sections of product producing and packaging line. It is necessary also to sanitary treat ventilation ducts with using of modern ways and to develop ways for air microbial contamination reduction.

Analysing the Impact of Autonomous Maintenance on the Packaging Line of a Pharmaceutical Industry

To meet the market’s challenges, industries are today confronted with a difficult situation, particularly maintaining product quality at competitive costs. Such a condition necessitates an increase in productivity with decreased ex-penses. Autonomous Maintenance (AM) facilitates this for industries. This project intends to integrate Autonomous Maintenance (AM) in a pharmaceutical manufacturing line, with a focus on the needs of a developing-country business. The focus of the research has been on operator training as the primary component of autonomous maintenance. It tries to instill a sense of responsibility for machine maintenance among machine workers. This allows the maintenance staff to focus on other essential responsibilities. The analysis of recurring losses and their resolution established the basis for the implementation of AM. The required for Scheduled Maintenance was lowered by 2.61 hours per week. Since the deployment of AM, the OEE has been on the rise and is approaching the world-class level of 80%. AM has cut unscheduled downtime by more than 100 percent and prevented additional changeover delays. As a result of a 6% improvement in total uptime, typical shift times have been lowered, bringing significant benefits to both the firm and its personnel. The report proposes that stakeholders continuously seek chances for development and expand the scope of additive manufacturing by incorporating activities known to affect the production efficiency of manufacturing lines.

Nondestructive detection of insect foreign bodies in finished tea products using THz‐TDS combination of baseline correction and variable selection algorithms

AbstractCurrent technology of x‐ray imaging detects hard foreign bodies (metal)effectively and extends to plastic, however, soft foreign bodies regarded as undetectable to x‐ray imaging is still a challenge for food safety. Terahertz time‐domain spectroscopy (THz‐TDS) combined with baseline correction and variable selection were employed to discriminate insect foreign bodies in finished tea products. Compared with THz‐TDS absorption coefficient, the accuracy was improved from 88.6% to 97.7% by the use of THz‐TDS time‐domain signals combined with adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least squares (AirPLS) and Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination (MC‐UVE) algorithms. Conversely, variable selection algorithms failed to improve the performance of partial least square discrimination analysis (PLS‐DA) model. The results suggested it was feasible to detect insect foreign bodies mixed in the finished tea products using THz time‐domain signals combined with baseline correction and variable selection algorithms. This work provided an alternative method for low‐density food foreign bodies detection using THz‐TDS technology.Practical applicationsTHz time‐domain signals directly applied to calibrate and predict during insect foreign bodies detection without consideration of additional parameter of sample thickness. THz‐TDS system could fix to the tea packaging line for foreign bodies detection and control.

Scheduling a pick and place packaging line

In this paper, we introduce the Pick and Place Packaging Problem (P4), for optimally scheduling a packaging system with one input conveyor (pick) and one output conveyor (place). We give a formal definition of the underlying dynamic optimization problem. We describe two properties that hold for its solutions and present an efficient row generation approach exploiting these properties. Starting from a basic version of the problem, we introduce two variants where we account for the possibility of holding the grip of items and variable conveyor speed. We extend the proposed exact solution method to these two cases. Then, we present an efficient Iterated Local Search heuristic for the problem and its variants. Numerical results show the effectiveness of our approach.

Повышение надежности и ресурса силовых станций автоматических линий

For technological operation of pressing, punching, riveting, bending, etc. mechanisms are used to transform the movement of the executive link, which provides the required force impact on the processed materials. The paper discusses the original mechanism of the power station of the automatic packaging line ALB 165. The analysis of the power stroke lever of the power station showed an insufficient margin of safety, which was the reason for the mechanism failure. Based on the calculations performed, options for modernizing the design of the lever were proposed, which made it possible to reduce the maximum stresses and displacements in the part by 30 and 32 %, respectively.

Sequencing and planning of packaging lines with reliability and Digital Twin concept considerations – a case study of a sugar production plant

Sequencing and planning of packaging lines with reliability and Digital Twin concept considerations – a case study of a sugar production plant

Assessment of Energy Efficiency in Beverage Industry

The brewery industry has a significant contribution to the national income. However, it is also associated with energy-intensive processes and pollution. In this work, the energy efficiency assessment of the largest brewery in Tanzania i.e., Tanzania Breweries Limited has been conducted. Energy consumption analysis was conducted according to IEEE SA 739-1995. Important parameters used to assess brewery energy efficiency were boiler efficiency and losses, equipment energy productivity as well as load factor. It was found that the main energy consumers are packaging (54.63%), brewing (29.30%) and utilities (15.17%). More importantly, it was found that about 68% of the brewery energy demand is thermal energy which is supplied by the boiler whose efficiency (62%) is significantly lower than the expected value of 94-95%. Load factor analysis showed that the equipment of both brewing and packaging line 4 are significantly oversized. Furthermore, energy productivity of 45.5 kWh/L of beer is significantly higher than the industry minimum of 23.6 kWh/L.

Study on cooling inerting of an airborne fuel tank in flight

PurposeThis study aims to seek a new economic and environmental protection fuel tank inerting method.Design/methodology/approachThe principle that serves as the basis for the cooling inerting process is described, the workflow of the cooling inerting system is designed, the mathematical model of the cooling inerting system is established, and the important performance changes of cooling inerting in the flight package line and the influence of key parameters on it are simulated by using Modelica software.FindingsThe results show that the cooling inerting system can be turned on to quickly reduce the vapour concentration in the gas phase in the fuel space and reduce the temperature below the flammability limit. Within a certain range of pumping flow, the inerting effect is more obvious when the pumping flow is larger. Simply running the cooling inerting system on the ground can remain the tank in an inert state throughout the flight envelope.Research limitations/implicationsHowever, cooling inerting is suitable for models with fewer internal heat sources. An excessive number of internal heat sources will lead to inerting failure.Originality/valueThis study provides theoretical support for the feasibility of cooling inerting. Cooling inerting does not require engine air, and the cooling is mainly accomplished with air, which places a small load on the cooling system and has a much lower cost than the airborne hollow fibre film inerting technology widely used at present. It is a promising new inerting technology.