Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AUNPALL (DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW AUTOMATED MACHINE TO UNWRAP PALLETS EFFICIENTLY ANDSAFELY)
Reporting period: 2015-11-01 to 2016-02-29
Our project, AUNPALL, is an innovative, stand-alone, automated unwrapping machine for pallets, capable of cutting and removing in seconds the protective film from the pallets before entering in the packaging process lines. This transforms the current bottleneck of the packing line (slow process step) into an opportunity. Furthermore, AUNPALL comply with the beverage sector technical specifications (particularly to handle fragile products) and safety requirements (for the operators). Added to this, easy maintenance and affordable price, increased work safety by means of optimum accuracy in cutting and film removing, and combination of unwrapping and depalletizing in one workstation, it is clear that our AUNPALL machine will be an invaluable addition to the industry.
At EMMETI, our team has been performing a feasibility study during the last four months in order to analyze the key areas of our project. Technically, based on our original prototype, we have further studied and worked on the developments to reach the industrial version of our system. We have carried out additional tests and evaluated the quality of the operations, to ensure the integrity and quality of the products in the pallets. We have also prepared the Execution Plan for the project.
Commercially, we have studied in detail our target markets in order to prepare our marketing strategy. We have also performed a Freedom to Operate analysis, which is required to check and validate the innovation of our product. Lastly, we have prepared financial projections in order to evaluate the return on investment of the AUNPALL project.
On the technical side, based on the original AUNPALL prototype, we have further studied and worked on the industrial prototype, focusing on the cutting technology, the vacuum system, the dedicated control software and artificial vision. We have carried on additional tests on the plastic films and considered the variety of wrapping configurations to ensure flexibility of use and quality of cutting. We have also drafted the Execution Plan for the subsequent developments of the project, covering tasks such as planning, budget, risk analysis and organization.
At a commercial level, we have studied in detail our target market (packaging machinery) in order to prepare our marketing strategy. We have performed a Freedom to Operate analysis, which is required to check and validate the innovation of our product. This analysis has confirmed the novelty of AUNPALL and the absence of existing thread for its commercialization.
Finally, we have prepared financial projections in order to evaluate the return on investment of the AUNPALL project. Different sources of funding have been considered as well, leading to our decision to present a Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 (target being June 2016).
AUNPALL is a complementary addition to EMMETI’S depalletizing product portfolio and will be offered – via our wordwilde distribution network – as part of a complete solution, integrated and aligned with our customers’ specific requirements.