Authentic flavors, state-of-the-art production techniques

Bread baking is and remains a craft. Authentic flavors are at the basis of the recipes that La Lorraine Bakery Group makes with a passion for baking and with the most modern techniques. Recently a cobot started working in the packaging department on the production floor at the Erpe-Mere site. Employees can thus spare their backs and focus on other tasks. It was a feat of engineering, because space was extremely limited. It was right up KoMotion's alley.

La Lorraine originated in 1939 as a small flour mill in Ghent. Today the Belgian bakery group has more than 4,300 employees spread over twelve production sites. The common thread in this success story is the solid passion for baking. In its search for new, authentic flavors, the company headquartered in Ninove has continued to nurture that passion. From the grinding of the grain in its own mill to the production floor. It forms the main ingredient in the 1,450 different products, from sweet to savory, from fresh to frozen, that La Lorraine offers. A growth story that is also far from over. "We expect a strong increase in the frozen products segment in the coming years. To anticipate that we have already started building a new production hall for baguettes and small rolls in Erpe-Mere. This should triple capacity," says production assistant Tiemen Van Der Straeten.

Creating more ergonomics

This is not to say that current production will be abandoned to its fate. On the contrary. La Lorraine is constantly looking out for ways to optimize to improve safety and ergonomics for its employees. A recent example is the integration of a cobot in the packaging department in Erpe-Mere. Van Der Straeten: "Respect for people is highly valued here. We do everything possible to have them dragging boxes around as little as possible. A number of robot installations have therefore already taken over some of the palletizing work. But for several production lines there was not enough space available. There, removal from the production line and stacking was still done manually. Something we wanted to change, because after all, we are talking about weights of up to 8.5 kg."

Cobot on limited space

La Lorraine had found inspiration for a solution after seeing a demo of cobots. It would be a first for the group. "For the implementation, we wanted to look locally. Due to space constraints, we really needed a custom installation. To get out of a jam quickly, we wanted a partner nearby. For customized machines, the key is really cooperation." A choice that brought them to KoMotion, just around the corner in Erpe-Mere, but with a solid reputation in machine building and already experienced in cobot projects. Experience that would also come in handy because the cobot had to be able to operate two lines from its cell of with limited footprint and, of course, comply with all safety regulations. "On either side, the cobot was given a pallet location. It can put away 6.5 boxes per minute, thanks to the external elevator axis up to 2,450 mm high. All the operator has to do is indicate which product and stacking pattern is involved. Once the pallet is filled, he then requests access to the cell to change the pallet and the cobot can continue."

Flexibility trumps

KoMotion prepared the installation to perfection in its studio, but also went that extra mile on the shop floor. "You can really speak of a collaboration here. The perfect conditions in the workshop and the reality in production are always a bit different," Van Der Straeten knows. In this case, the quality of the boxes sometimes proved to be a stumbling block. "For our part, we improved the quality of the packing process so that the boxes could go dent-free toward the cobot. They in turn ensured that the tolerance of the cobot increased to the desired result. Limits that were fine-tuned on site. KoMotion showed enormous flexibility in order to realize everything within the predetermined timing. For example, on August 15, a holiday and a Sunday, they were busy here. That's called going for it together. The cobot cell has been operational since July 22nd. New technology always brings with it some trepidation, but in this case no one regretted no longer having to carry boxes. Moreover, it is a project with a very short payback period. KoMotion really delivered a calling card here."