Drake Autoloader

Artisan sausage producers face a packaging challenge that standard automation struggles to address: natural casing sausages are inherently non-uniform in size, shape, and texture. Unlike processed, uniform products, these irregular items require handling systems that can adapt without damaging the casing or causing line jams. Legacy autoloaders for this application were mechanically complex, difficult to operate, and demanding to maintain — requiring specialized technician knowledge and driving unplanned downtime. For mid-market food manufacturers trying to scale artisan-format production to commercial volumes, the loading stage was often the throughput bottleneck limiting overall line output.

Drake Autoloader redesigned its autoloading system around a cohesive Allen-Bradley control architecture supplied by Rockwell Automation. The core is an Allen-Bradley CompactLogix programmable automation controller (PAC), which coordinates all machine logic, motion, and conveyor sequencing from a single platform. Kinetix 5500 servo drives provide the precise, adaptive motion control needed to handle irregularly shaped natural casing sausages without product damage. A PowerFlex 525 AC drive manages conveyor speed. Critically, all control elements — drives, motion, and logic — share a unified HMI and programming environment through the Logix ecosystem, eliminating the multi-vendor complexity of prior designs. This integrated architecture was also chosen to simplify long-term servicing: fewer control layers mean faster fault diagnosis and reduced spare parts requirements.

The redesigned autoloader achieves loading speeds of up to 400 pieces per minute (ppm), establishing a throughput benchmark that makes commercial-scale production of artisan-format sausages viable. Beyond speed, the unified control platform delivers measurable operational improvements:

• Single HMI for the entire system reduces operator training time and minimizes changeover errors across shifts
• Simplified mechanical design lowers maintenance complexity and reduces mean time to repair
• Integrated Logix platform enables faster fault diagnosis without navigating multiple vendor interfaces

The result is a machine that operators and maintenance technicians can manage without deep automation expertise — a meaningful advantage for mid-market food producers with lean technical teams.

• A unified control platform (single PAC, single HMI) reduces operator training burden and accelerates troubleshooting — valuable on any line running multiple shifts.
• Servo-driven handling is often necessary for non-uniform or fragile products where cam-and-conveyor approaches create damage or jam risk.
• Designing for mechanical simplicity from the start pays dividends in maintenance time and spare parts inventory over the equipment lifecycle.
• Standardizing on one automation vendor's ecosystem enables integrated diagnostics and reduces the complexity of sustaining a machine long-term.
• High-speed automation of artisan-format products can close the throughput gap between craft and commodity production without compromising product integrity.