06/12/2026
Piab launched its piSOFTGRIP® 40-3, a three-finger soft gripper that expands the company’s piSOFTGRIP® family with larger, stronger and more versatile handling capabilities for delicate and irregularly shaped items.
Piab’s piSOFTGRIP® 40-3
Designed for food, consumer goods and light manufacturing applications, the piSOFTGRIP 40-3 enables automation of products that are traditionally difficult to handle with rigid grippers, such as fresh produce, protein, baked goods, confectionery and fragile components. Built in one piece with soft silicone and actuated by vacuum, the gripper mimics the gentle but secure grasp of a human hand.
With its three-finger design and increased gripping envelope, the piSOFTGRIP 40-3 can safely and reliably pick a broader range of products, including larger diameters, irregular geometries and deformable items. The soft, food-grade silicone material distributes pressure evenly around the product surface, minimizing the risk of bruising, marking or damage.
The piSOFTGRIP 40-3 is developed to meet stringent requirements in primary and secondary food handling and other hygiene-sensitive environments. Its design features include FDA/EC-compliant food-grade silicone for direct food contact and one-piece construction with smooth, easy-to-clean surfaces. It’s compatible with common wash-down and cleaning regimes, depending on installation. This makes the gripper an attractive solution for tasks such as picking fruit and vegetables, bakery items, ready meals, confectionery and packaged foods, as well as hygienic handling in cosmetics and pharmaceutical environments.
To streamline deployment, the piSOFTGRIP 40-3 is engineered for easy integration with a wide range of industrial robots, collaborative robots (cobots) and dedicated pick-and-place systems. Key benefits include simple control via vacuum, compatibility with Piab’s comprehensive vacuum ecosystem, lightweight construction supporting use on low-payload robots and configurable mounting options for rapid adaptation to existing tooling and end-of-arm setups.
About Piab
Piab is a global leader in smart vacuum solutions for automated manufacturing and logistics. Serving customers in the food, packaging, automotive, electronics, logistics, and general industrial sectors, it helps companies improve productivity, quality and sustainability through innovative gripping, lifting and vacuum technology. With a worldwide presence and a strong focus on research and development, the company continually expands the boundaries of what is possible in automated handling. For more information, visit https://www.piab.com.
