When coffee meets automation

The challenge

When you pick up a pack of coffee from Arvid Nordquist, you can be sure it weighs 500 grams* and that the footprint is identical, regardless of the variety. But since different blends consist of different beans – ground in different ways – the volume varies slightly. That means the height of the packs differs from one product to another.

This creates a challenge when building pallet layers with mixed coffee varieties. Quite simply, the building blocks don’t fit.

Making it fit with spacers

The solution at Arvid Nordquist’s roastery was a cutting machine capable of producing custom-sized cardboard spacers. These are placed as fillers in the pallet pattern, above layers containing lower packs with more compact coffee.

The cutting machine is a standard solution we call FrontCut™. Because it cuts custom-sized sheets from fanfold material, it’s useful in many different applications – both for on-demand layer pads and as spacing elements.

One, two … testing

An added bonus during the project was unlimited access to every kind of coffee. We tested new flavors, alternated between pallet packing and coffee tasting, and ended up with just as extensive a test of coffee varieties as of production solutions.

Listening to true coffee enthusiasts – people deeply passionate about bean color, roast temperatures, and grinding methods – is inspiring. We discovered entirely new worlds of aromas, flavors, and sensations in every cup.

”No matter the field, it’s simply fun to work with passionate people who have deep specialist knowledge”

Enthusiasm inspires

We’re much the same – except our passion is automation. With the same enthusiasm Arvid Nordquist brings to coffee, we discuss vacuum circuits, PLC response times, and flute direction in fanfold material.

No matter the industry, working with engaged specialists is always rewarding. And the best way to enjoy a presentation of a truly smart automation concept – delivered by a genuine automation nerd – is, of course, with a steaming cup of coffee in hand.

* Arvid Nordquist is the only major coffee roastery that has kept the 500-gram package for its core range, rather than switching to 450 grams like many others.

Read more about coffee and Arvid Nordquist’s experts here

If you’d like to talk to an automation nerd, feel free to contact any of us at 3Button Group.

3button Group AB
+4636-34 50 60
info@3bg.se