Stainless Steel Robot Helps US Dairy Industry

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. --(Business Wire)-- KUKA Robotics Corporation today announced its system partner, Forte Automation Systems, has installed a KUKA KR 15 SL stainless steel robot into Dean Foods' dairy product manufacturing facility.
The robot is the first stainless steel robot to be installed in North America. Dean Foods, a division of PET Dairies LLC, is using the KUKA KR 15 SL robot in its dairy case packing process.

"Dean Foods came to us needing to increase their case packing production using their current staff," said Toby Henderson, president of Forte Automation Systems.

Said Bill Schaefer, general manager of Dean Foods. "Anytime you can move workers from tedious assignments to more mentally challenging ones the more productive you will be - which is exactly what we wished to accomplish by adopting this new robot and process."

The KUKA KR 15 SL robot is a six-axis articulated robot is made of stainless steel. The use of stainless steel and the robot's high IP rating makes it suitable for all applications with stringent requirements for hygiene, sterility and absence of particles such as required in the food and beverage or medical industries.

The use of robots in the dairy industry in the UK is credited with saving their domestic factories from moving to Eastern Europe.