Graze picks plenty with linear motors

What makes Graze special is that it customises each customer’s boxes based on their ratings and preferences. The production line has to process weighed portions of the various snack products and dispense them into different format punnets. These all have to fit inside the standard Graze box, which has to fit through a standard letter box.

With millions of combinations, it requires multiple positions to suit the box configurations at sufficiently high speed to cope with the throughputs. To avoid cross-contamination, easy wash-down of the equipment used is essential.

Millions of different combinations​

Using an algorithm, called ‘Darwin’ Decision Algorithm Rating What Ingredient’s Next the system determines how snack portions are sorted into punnets, and it’s possible to get millions of different combinations of snacks placed into customised Graze boxes, labelled and sent by post.

The problem of fulfilling the packaging operation with such a huge number of variables was achieved using ServoTube linear motors from Dunkermotoren Linear Motors. The packaging equipment uses a three-dimensional gantry formation with three tubular linear motors.

The millions of combinations of ingredients generate huge numbers of individual portions, or ‘picks’.

“We can now make more individual picks than the other established, big name online grocery delivery companies,”​ claims Graze co-founder Neil Thompson.

Contact: Dunkermotoren Linear Motors​