VIDEO: Alberta food producer installs new automated packaging line

Aliya’s Food Limited has added a custom automation solution to increase outputs on one of its packaging lines.

Aliya’s, based in Edmonton, Alta., is Canada’s largest exporter of Indian food.

Having gone from a single machine that could manufacture 40,000 samosas a day back in 2000, the Chef Bombay Samosa packaging line now has 11 machines producing over 400,000 samosas a day in the facility.

Remtech Systems and Cam Industrial are designing a tailored automated packaging system to replace the current packaging process, which involves manually counting samosas and hand sealing bags.

The fully automated system will be installed in Aliya’s new facility in Edmonton in June 2021. The packaging line is designed for a production rate of 850 kg/hour.

The new system uses Aliya’s existing conveyors and introduces industrial robotics from ABB to further increase productivity. Remtech Systems has provided engineering and design services, with the installation, commissioning and planned maintenance provided by Cam Industrial.

“Adding this automation to our packing line removes some of the most repetitive jobs for people and will give us an opportunity to free up our team members for more skilled positions,” says Noorudin Jiwani, co-founder, Chef Bombay.

Here’s what’s happening in the video:

1. Samosas come out of a freezer on a conveyor.

2. Samosas travel down and are picked up three at a time by four ABB FlexPicker Robots and placed on the in-feed of a bagging machine in the correct count for their primary packaging. There are four FlexPickers in total simultaneously picking and placing groups of 12-15 samosas at a time.

3. The counted samosas then travel down a conveyor and enter a bagging machine where the individual samosas are put into their primary packaging.

4. The bagged samosas then travel further down and enter the secondary packaging machine where the bags are then placed into their cartons.

5. The fully sealed cartons are then picked up — 12, eight or six at a time — by an ABB case packing robot and placed into their cases.

6. The open cases travel down a conveyor through a case sealer.

7. The sealed boxes then get picked and placed by an ABB robot palletizer onto pallets for storage or shipping.

8. The open tertiary packaging travels down conveyor #2 through a case sealer.

9. The sealed boxes then get picked and placed by an ABB palletizer, up to four at a time into their final packaging and onto pallets for storage or shipping.