CRG Automation

In high-mix packaging environments, cartoner changeovers represent one of the most significant sources of unplanned downtime and lost throughput. When production lines must frequently switch between product formats, sizes, or configurations, slow mechanical and software changeover processes directly constrain scheduling flexibility and OEE. For OEMs like CRG Automation, the inability to offer fast changeover as a standard capability puts their equipment at a competitive disadvantage — particularly as consumer packaged goods manufacturers face increasing SKU proliferation and shorter production runs. Every minute of changeover time translates to reduced capacity utilization and limits a customer's ability to respond quickly to demand shifts.

CRG Automation redesigned their cartoner platform around Rockwell Automation's control architecture to deliver fast, repeatable changeovers. The solution leverages Rockwell's Allen-Bradley programmable controllers and Studio 5000 programming environment to encode product-specific machine parameters as stored recipes, allowing operators to call up a new format through the HMI rather than manually adjusting mechanical stops and re-tuning motion profiles. Servo-driven axes replace traditional mechanical adjustments, enabling automated repositioning to predefined setpoints. The Rockwell platform's integrated motion and logic control allows the changeover sequence to execute in a coordinated, deterministic manner. This architecture is embedded at the machine level, requiring no external software infrastructure — changeover intelligence lives directly in the control system.

The implementation delivered dramatically reduced changeover times compared to the previous mechanical adjustment approach. Key outcomes include:

• Faster format switches: Changeovers that previously required extended manual adjustment now complete in a fraction of the time through automated recipe recall
• Improved repeatability: Servo-based positioning eliminates operator-to-operator variation in setup quality
• Increased scheduling flexibility: Shorter changeovers allow packaging lines to run smaller, more frequent batches without disproportionate capacity loss
• OEM differentiation: CRG Automation gained a demonstrable performance advantage to offer end-user customers in competitive equipment evaluations

The gains compound across multiple daily format changes, materially improving overall line utilization.

• Recipe-driven changeover is a design decision, not an afterthought — it must be architected into the machine from the ground up, not retrofitted onto a mechanically-adjusted design.
• Servo axes are the enabling hardware — replacing manual adjustments with servo-driven positioning is what makes software-controlled changeover physically possible.
• OEMs should quantify changeover time as a spec — fast changeover is most persuasive when expressed in minutes, not qualitative terms, during customer evaluations.
• Standardizing on a common control platform across a machine family reduces engineering effort and allows recipe libraries to scale across variants.
• End-user flexibility requirements are driving OEM differentiation — high-mix CPG production trends make changeover performance an increasingly decisive purchase criterion.