Automated Secondary Packaging Machine For Coffee Bags
Authors
Aljundi, Ali ; Johansen, Viktor Jung ; Nedergaard, Cille Boldsen
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-28
Abstract
This master’s thesis, carried out in collaboration with coffee producer Bentax A/S, examines how waste and time consumption in their coffee production and packaging line can be reduced. An initial analysis of the material flow and production steps led to the development of a Value Stream Map, which highlighted significant time-related waste in refilling the silos and in the manual secondary packaging process where coffee bags are packed into cardboard boxes. Based on these findings, a problem statement was formulated and solution requirements were defined in close dialogue with Bentax. These requirements were translated into design specifications using the House of Quality method and further developed into solution concepts through a functional tree and a morphological analysis. The selected concept is an automated secondary packaging station built around a UR5 robotic arm with a vacuum gripper that autonomously handles and places coffee bags into boxes. A physical demonstrator was designed and implemented, including mechanical components, sensing for bag detection and box positioning, robot programming, and integration into a revised shop floor layout. The demonstrator achieves stable bag handling but only reaches about one-third of the manual packaging speed, meaning it only partially fulfils the requirements for improved time efficiency. The thesis discusses the technical and implementation challenges, ergonomic and safety considerations, and proposes potential improvements and future development paths to increase speed, flexibility, and economic viability of fully automating Bentax’s secondary packaging line.
Dette speciale er udarbejdet i samarbejde med kaffefirmaet Bentax A/S og undersøger, hvordan spild og tidsforbrug i deres produktion og emballering af kaffebønner kan reduceres. Gennem en indledende analyse af materialeflowet og produktionsprocessen blev der udarbejdet et Value Stream Map, som identificerede særligt tidsrelateret spild ved opfyldning af siloer og i den manuelle sekundære emballeringsproces, hvor poser med kaffe pakkes i papkasser. Med udgangspunkt i disse fund blev der formuleret en problemstilling og fastlagt krav til en løsning i tæt dialog med Bentax. Kravene blev oversat til konkrete designparametre ved hjælp af House of Quality-metoden og omsat til løsningskoncepter gennem en funktionstræ og en morfologisk analyse. Den valgte løsning er en automatiseret sekundær emballeringsstation baseret på en UR5-robotarm med vakuumgriber, der autonomt håndterer og placerer kaffeposer i papkasser. Der er udviklet og implementeret en fysisk demonstrator, inklusiv mekanisk design, sensorik, robotprogrammering og layouttilpasning til produktionsområdet. Demonstratoren opnår stabil håndtering af poser, men en pakkefart på cirka en tredjedel af den nuværende manuelle proces, og opfylder dermed kun delvist de opstillede krav om tidsmæssig effektivitet. Rapporten diskuterer de tekniske og praktiske udfordringer ved implementering, ergonomiske og sikkerhedsmæssige aspekter samt mulige forbedringer og videreudvikling, der kan øge hastighed, fleksibilitet og økonomisk bæredygtighed ved fuldskala automatisering af Bentax’ emballeringslinje.
[This abstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]