Within the coronary heart of Provence, a small French bottling firm is proving that automation is not only for massive producers. Bulles Création, primarily based in Valréas, has doubled its manufacturing cadence and lifted the bodily pressure off its operators by deploying a Robotiq PE20 Palletizing Workcell on the finish of its bottling line.
Based in 2014 and primarily based in Valréas, within the Provence area of southeastern France, Bulles Création is an 8-person firm that provides bottling providers for native winemakers whereas additionally growing its personal glowing drinks, together with wine and non-alcoholic choices like kombucha.
The problem: rising demand, an growing older line, and a bodily demanding job
Bulles Création constructed its enterprise on flexibility, bottling for native winemakers whereas growing its personal effervescent drinks. However as demand grew, the corporate’s manufacturing instruments could not sustain. Its packaging line was capped at 1,500 bottles an hour.
The bottleneck wasn’t simply pace. It was additionally the toll guide palletizing took on operators. Daily, staff dealt with cartons of 6 or 12 bottles weighing as much as 20 kg, stacking them at a tempo of roughly 4.5 cartons a minute. That added as much as 4 to five tonnes lifted per day.
“Labor shortages, bodily pressure, the necessity to increase productiveness… this automation challenge aimed to offer an efficient reply to a number of challenges shared by many meals and beverage firms.”
Bruno Quenin, co-manager of Bulles Création
On high of the house and labor constraints, Bulles Création wanted an answer versatile sufficient to adapt palletizing to its film-wrapping step, moderately than a inflexible, single-purpose setup.
To handle it, the corporate invested greater than €1 million to rebuild its bottling line and automate practically all of it. The turning level got here on the Prod&Pack commerce present in November 2024, the place Bulles Création’s management met Isycod, Robotiq’s integration associate for southeastern France.
The answer: a compact Workcell constructed for a decent manufacturing flooring
House was the deciding constraint. Bulles Création’s manufacturing flooring is tight, and a conventional industrial robotic, with the heavy security fencing it requires, merely wasn’t an possibility.
The corporate turned to the PE20, Robotiq’s automated Palletizing Workcell constructed round a UR20 collaborative robotic from Common Robots.
“It is the compactness, the convenience of use, and the power to adapt to a number of carton and pallet codecs, all whereas assembly the particular constraints of our manufacturing website, that led us to decide on the Robotiq Palletizing Workcell in a short time.”
Bruno Quenin, co-manager of Bulles Création
Isycod accomplished the mixing on the finish of the road, which required good sequencing of the carton circulation by way of an autonomous curler conveyor with three buffer zones. The system robotically areas cartons aside to stop collisions and retains the cobot fed in actual time.
One distinctive piece of the challenge was the mixing of two movie wrappers straight into the Workcell. That permit the road run palletizing, wrapping, and pallet evacuation to transport as one steady sequence, with no guide dealing with in between. The laborious half wasn’t software program, it was mechanical. Isycod needed to match these movie wrappers to the Robotiq normal with out resorting to main software program adjustments.
That is additionally the place Robotiq’s software program earns its maintain. Operators configure, regulate, and launch palletizing recipes on their very own, with no superior robotics or programming expertise required. Switching between carton or pallet codecs is simply as quick, letting operators reconfigure the road themselves with out calling in exterior assist.
Outfitted with a 3 kg Robotiq vacuum gripper constructed for heavy cartons, the cobot now handles cartons weighing as much as 20 kg, placing the UR20’s 25 kg payload to work. Working at a gentle 4 cycles per minute and backed by native sensitivity sensors that set off an on the spot cease on contact, the cell operates safely with no security cage.
The outcomes: capability doubled, with room to develop
One yr after automating its line, Bulles Création is already seeing the payoff.
- Cadence doubled: the corporate now produces round 2,500 bottles per hour, up from 1,500
- Headroom for progress: the brand new line can attain as much as 4,500 bottles per hour, giving the enterprise a protracted runway to scale
- Fewer missed alternatives: Bulles Création can now meet stronger demand, tackle new volumes, and increase its consumer portfolio as a substitute of turning down manufacturing for lack of capability
- Higher working situations: guide palletizing, and the musculoskeletal dysfunction danger that got here with it, has been faraway from the job
- Greater-value work: operators free of palletizing now contribute to R&D on new in-house merchandise
“Right this moment, I do not perceive why everybody is not doing this. Collaborative palletizing has genuinely helped us. This challenge exhibits precisely how small and medium-sized French meals and beverage firms can modernize their manufacturing instruments to grow to be extra aggressive, develop their order guide, and grow to be extra engaging employers.”
Bruno Quenin, co-manager of Bulles Création
A mannequin for small producers
Bulles Création’s story is a reminder that automation would not require a big footprint or a big workforce to repay. With the suitable associate and the suitable cobot, an 8-person firm can rebuild its end-of-line, double its output, and provides its folks higher, safer work to do.
Wish to see if collaborative palletizing matches your manufacturing flooring? Strive our Palletizing Match Examine to substantiate feasibility, or discover the PE20 Palletizing Workcell for your self.
Unsure if palletizing automation is best for you? Begin with IQ.
One of many greatest limitations producers face earlier than investing in automation is uncertainty. Will it slot in my plant? Will it deal with my merchandise? Will the numbers truly work for my operation? These are truthful questions, and so they deserve actual solutions earlier than any dedication is made.
That’s precisely what Robotiq IQ is constructed for.
IQ is Robotiq’s AI-enabled platform designed to take producers from first query to deployment-ready Workcell sooner and with higher confidence. It isn’t a gross sales instrument. It’s an engineering and enterprise validation platform that provides you the knowledge it’s good to make an knowledgeable choice.
