In the raw material warehouse of a nut processing plant in Shandong, the piles of cashew kernels are undergoing the final test - the old vertical packaging machine in the packaging workshop makes a dull roar, and the operator Master Wang bends down for the third time to pick up the aluminum film fragments stuck in the heat seal. This "daily compulsory course" that has lasted for three years was completely rewritten the moment it encountered the flexible packaging system.
"We need a device that can ''''think''''." The company''''s production director pointed to the data on the monitoring screen and shook his head. The original packaging machine had a capacity of 200 bags per hour. After the launch of mixed nut products, the efficiency dropped by 30% due to frequent switching of bag sizes. What''''s more difficult is that the different hardness combinations of peanuts and dried cranberries cause the traditional metering system to frequently misjudge, and the raw materials scattered on the workshop floor are like silent accusations.
The solution proposed by the ply-pack technical team starts with the transformation of the core module of the flexible packaging system. When the engineer disassembled the protective cover of the original equipment, the smell of lubricating oil mixed with nut crumbs hit him. "Look here, the flexible bag-making mechanism can change the bag shape like origami." Chief designer Li Gong used a laser pen to draw across the rotating shaft of the new robot arm, and twelve sets of servo motors flashed a faint blue light in the transparent observation window.
The key battle for the production line upgrade started at two o''''clock in the morning. When the last box of original cashews was packed, twenty technicians were divided into four groups to work synchronously. When the electrician Lao Zhang knelt on the base of the equipment to install the integrated control box for the entire line, he found that the original foundation bolts were offset by 2.3 mm-this detail that was warned in advance by the three-dimensional model of the flexible packaging system made the transformation progress 8 hours earlier than expected.
Food-grade compliance requirements have become the focus of technological breakthroughs. In the cashew antioxidant packaging section, the new nitrogen replacement device and flexible packaging system achieve millisecond-level response. Sun Li, the quality inspection supervisor, put on white gloves and gently stroked the heat-sealed edge: "In the past, there were often wrinkles of 0.1 mm here. Now the flexible temperature control module can make the seal as smooth as ironed." On the electronic screen behind her, the data curve of packaging efficiency improvement is being refreshed in units of 15 minutes.
The wisdom of the whole line integration is revealed in the mixed packaging link. When the combination of walnut kernels and freeze-dried strawberries enters the assembly line, the visual recognition unit of the flexible packaging system suddenly alarms-the color difference of a peeled walnut triggers the sorting mechanism. The engineer called up the debugging log and smiled: "This AI learning model has seen 300 samples of nut defects."
On the day of acceptance, Master Wang stood in a trance in the brand-new workshop. The flexible packaging system is handling 600 bags per hour, and the robotic arm grabs bags of different specifications with the grace of a ballerina. The corners where raw materials were once scattered are now neatly stacked with five-color mixed nut gift boxes, and the rhythm of the packaging machine and the air conditioning system achieve a wonderful harmony.
"This is not a simple equipment replacement, but a reconstruction of production logic." When the head of the company signed the acceptance report, the pen tip briefly stopped on the words "flexible packaging system". Outside the window, a cold chain vehicle loaded with new products is slowly starting, and the morning dew condensed on the body reflects the dawn of intelligent transformation.
At this moment in the packaging workshop, the flexible bag-making mechanism is performing the 47th bag type switch. When the sunlight passes through the dust removal system to form the Tyndall effect, the dust suspended in the space seems to witness the trajectory of the traditional food processing industry''''s transition to intelligent manufacturing.
