Swiss packaging equipment OEM Rotzinger, a pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food and beverage machinery manufacturer, and CoreTigo, a provider of industrial wireless automation, were at interpack last month demonstrating an interesting controls-based collaboration. CoreTigo’s IO-Link Wireless products and technology have been integrated into Rotzinger’s advanced packaging machinery, resulting in new and advanced capabilities that are driving maximum flexibility, throughput, and sustainability.
“We are delighted to partner with CoreTigo and to integrate their IO-Link Wireless products and technology into our advanced packaging machinery,” says Andreas Graf, Rotzinger PharmaPack CEO. “This partnership has allowed us to provide our customers with even more advanced capabilities and benefits, resulting in adaptivity, increased productivity, and sustainability.”
Rotzinger says its mission is to continuously optimize product flow for its customers, along with offering first-class solutions, services, and software. The machine builder was asked by a leading food manufacturer to develop an adaptive secondary food packaging machine that meets very high demands of throughput, along with the ability to support multiple package and product variations, all on a single machine. 
Automatic changeover is done on the go, enabling full agility and flexibility.
The machine is based on a multi-carrier smart conveyer system, often called linear track system, composed of independently moving shuttles or carriers. In this case, the application required performing actions on products while in constant, high-speed motion. Cables were not a possible option for such a complex and high-speed task, nor were conventional wireless solutions. By using CoreTigo’s IO-Link Wireless products—which were designed specifically for wireless control and monitoring in factory automation—Rotzinger can now wirelessly control grippers that are mounted on the shuttles/carriers without needing additional external robots, cables, or other types of equipment.
