CP Foods UK stands as a prominent poultry producer, providing top-tier products to leading retailers, manufacturers, and foodservice operators throughout the United Kingdom. With a strong foundation in food safety, quality, and adaptability, the company consistently seeks innovative ways to respond to evolving retailer and consumer demands. Within its UK facilities, CP Foods UK expertly prepares and packages chicken products for a competitive market, focusing on food and drink packaging solutions that meet today’s sustainability standards.
To modernize a key packing line, CP Foods UK joined forces with Gripple, a Sheffield-based engineering firm renowned for its innovative automation projects, alongside OMRON, a global leader in industrial automation. Together, they developed and installed a state-of-the-art robotic solution that has significantly improved efficiency and reliability, all the while re-energizing the workforce.
The Challenge: Adapting to Evolving Retail Demands
The challenge presented was ambitious from the outset. As Craig Bagnall, Operations Manager at Gripple, explains: “CP Foods challenged us to deliver them a product that picked and placed chicken in sealed trays at 120 packs per minute, at an 85% OEE, with a 1% reject.”
For CP Foods UK, embracing automation means building resilience into the business while maintaining flexibility amidst rapidly changing customer demands. Adele Davies, Factory General Manager at CP Foods, elaborates: “The things that we’re having to think about at the moment is, how do we cope with ever-changing requirements from retailers and customers, and how do we remain flexible as well as having automation? We previously had a line that would require you to put trays on a line as well as people manual packing, so we did a full automation project.”
The existing infrastructure had reached its limits. Andy White, Engineering Manager at CP Foods UK, explains that the low-care area equipment was outdated and required constant maintenance. Rather than continue relying on aging systems, the company recognized an opportunity to embrace advanced technology. “We wanted a solution that not only improved performance but also made the job more rewarding for our engineers and the people working on the line,” White stated.
The Solution: Advanced Servo-Driven Robotics
In close collaboration, Gripple and OMRON engineers designed a customized robotic packaging machine that met CP Foods UK’s specific needs. At that time, no other solutions on the market combined the required speed, reliability, accuracy, and compact design. The synergy between the two engineering teams was vital in identifying the optimal path forward, resulting in a servo-driven machine that operates more quietly and smoothly, and offers clear user benefits.
A significant breakthrough came with the creation of a novel gripper system. Dan Matthews, Mechanical Design Engineer at Gripple, notes: “Most important probably is understanding the end customer’s needs. Understanding their production environment, understanding the rest of the line, and making sure that our equipment seamlessly integrates with all that. Because the machine operates at 120 parts a minute, we had to develop something that could stack multiple packs at once. We developed a multi-stack gripper that could do five picks and then place, and we collaborated with the OMRON robotics engineers to develop the software alongside our own.”
At the core of this innovation lies OMRON’s Sysmac automation platform, which serves as the backbone of this solution. Sysmac integrates every aspect of the machine into one cohesive environment, covering PLC control, vision systems, cameras, sensor data, robotics, safety, and servo drives. By centralizing everything under a single software suite, the platform simplifies operations while providing the necessary performance and flexibility for high-speed food and drink packaging.
The Benefits: Achieving Throughput Goals While Inspiring Teams
The new system has yielded success on multiple fronts. From an operational viewpoint, the line now meets high-speed throughput targets while ensuring reliability in a compact footprint. For engineers and operators, this project has generated renewed energy and enthusiasm. “There’s been a really strong level of engagement from our engineers,” said Andy White, Engineering Manager at CP Foods UK. “They’ve embraced the new technology, enjoyed gaining hands-on experience with the packaging machine, and worked closely with the installation team. It’s definitely the way forward. This next generation of robotics is going to play a huge part in the future of all businesses.”
“The key is engaging people properly with an automation project,” Adele Davies adds. “When you do that, they see the excitement in it and recognize how it can enhance their jobs. People say, ‘We’ve got robots now,’ and they genuinely enjoy it. This project is just the beginning, the first of many more to come in the future.”
Craig Bagnall, Operations Manager at Gripple, concludes: “It’s a very flexible machine that we can tailor to almost any end user’s requirements. As OMRON’s technology continues to evolve, we need to evolve with it so that we can keep delivering more solutions for our customers.”
