Omron became involved in the development process through an existing partnership with EIS Automation. Based on the project goals, Omron engineers worked side-by-side with both companies to incorporate several solutions that would give end users more control over their machines. Along with a customized human machine interface (HMI) screen that promotes maximum flexibility and ease of operability, Omron also provided the technology behind an initiative to let end users seamlessly add functionality to the core machine as operations change in response to market demands.

Packaging Made Easy has seen success with the recent launch of the Athena-S3, a fit-for-the-future, modular flow wrapping machine. The company is also promoting a multi-step plan for improving an entire packaging process in which new functionality can be seamlessly added without replacing the core machine.

This process includes, among other things:

• Incorporating automation on the feeding side
• Adding a collaborative robot for casing at the end of the line
• Including a complete, end-to-end traceability system
• Adding automated quality control subsystems