End-of-Line Automation

16/03/2021

Evangelos A. Theodorou, Ph.D. (Cambridge)
Theodorou Group President

The last part of the packaging lines, also known as end-of-line, is ideally offered for the application of the new automation (connected automation). Indeed, the end-of-line is the meeting point of the primary packaging, supply chain and business information systems (ERP, etc.). In addition, the end-of-line tends to have a structural uniformity that is independent of the product produced.

Theodorou Group has developed MEL (Modular End of Line) system, which provides the final solution to the issue of End-of-Line automation and which includes:

Equipment such as:

  • automatic case packers
  • robotic palletizers,
  • pallet stretch film wrappers
  • box and pallet coding systems
  • handling and sorting systems, etc.

The BACKBONE automation system, which ensures:

  • smooth product flow through the synchronization of the individual machines and the initial parts of the line,
  • data exchange with ERP, with other information systems, with the existing factory automation infrastructure but also with the supply chain management systems.

A special feature of BACKBONE is the ability to monitor and manage transport units (pallets and / or boxes), whether they go for internal storage or for direct shipping to external destinations (customer warehouses, 3PL, central warehouses, etc.).

The MEL system was presented in 2014 at Theodorou Group stand at the Interpack International Exhibition in Dusseldorf and since then it has been applied with absolute success in many facilities in Greece and abroad and in fact in many of these applications there was the possibility of utilizing pre-existing equipment.

Dr. Evangelos Theodorou is the President & CEO of Theodorou Group. He holds a degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering – NTUA (National Technical University of Athens) and holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Systems from the University of Cambridge, England. He has been a lecturer at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the NTUA.