Automated Palletizing and Depalletizing Solutions

Even before COVID-19, labor scarcity was an issue for manufacturing and distribution in every industry. Demands for higher wages, the level of education needed to operate modern machinery, and a perception that manufacturing and distribution weren’t viable long-term careers were all issues.

Since the pandemic, Baby Boomers who were qualified to operate machinery either have retired or will soon, and younger generations continue to perceive automation as a threat to jobs in many industries, including automotive. At the same time, they’re re-evaluating their work-life balance in ways that lead them to less physically demanding work than traditional manufacturing jobs could offer.

Conventional palletizers come in two categories. The first works with cases of similar size, shape, and weight. The cases accumulate in the proper orientation on a formation table at the end of a conveyor, and are then discharged onto their pallet. The second type of conventional palletizer use gantries and other structures to palletize pales, cartons, and other oddly shaped goods.

Robotic palletizers use a mechanical arm with changeable end-of-arm tooling to lift, orient, and palletize or depalletize goods. Because their tooling can be changed, and they are guided by programmable logic controllers, they are more versatile than conventional palletizers. End-of-arm tooling solutions include magnets, vacuums, pincers, and more.

Even before COVID-19, labor scarcity was an issue in every industry. Low unemployment, high rates of retirement, demands for higher wages, and a perception that jobs in warehousing and distribution aren’t viable long-term careers are all issues for material handling companies. To combat labor shortages and increased costs, many companies are looking to lean practices and automation to streamline their processes and retain high quality employees.

Automating low-value, injury prone tasks like palletizing in order to eliminate the role or at least make the job more ergonomic can improve the quality of life for employees, as well as their morale, and improve employee retention rates. Especially in high throughput facilities, or facilities with unpredictable workflows, automated palletizing can be a cost-saving investment.

Even before COVID-19, labor scarcity was an issue for manufacturing and distribution in every industry. Demands for higher wages, the level of education needed to operate modern machinery, and a perception that manufacturing and distribution weren’t viable long-term careers were all issues.

Since the pandemic, Baby Boomers who were qualified to operate machinery either have retired or will soon, and younger generations continue to perceive automation as a threat to jobs in many industries, including automotive. At the same time, they’re re-evaluating their work-life balance in ways that lead them to less physically demanding work than traditional manufacturing jobs could offer.

Manual palletizing and depalletizing is labor intensive and injury prone. And while conventional automated solutions offer faster and more consistent speeds, they have to be specifically engineered to handle oddly shaped items like bags and pales. Operations that might handle a variety of shapes need robotic palletizers with the right end-of-arm tooling.

Integrating the appropriate solutions for your needs is paramount in efficient dock-to-stock or cross-docking applications. Automated palletizers provide more consistent throughput than manual labor, helping facilities achieve dependable, lean processes.

Inventory accuracy is essential to material handling. At the extremes, inaccurate counts can mean that a product is out of stock when it shouldn’t be, or that a warehouse is bloated with obsolete goods. Automated palletizing and depalletizing can improve inventory accuracy by ensuring that the right quantity of goods is loaded or unloaded.

At the same time, automated palletizing and depalletizing helps ensure product quality. Automation doesn’t get fatigued or cut corners by, for example, tossing boxes to the top of a pallet that’s stacked too high. Automation operates consistently throughout a shift, sometimes stacking hundreds of goods an hour, with practically no risk of damages.

Automated palletizing creates more consistent throughput, and saves costs on manual labor, in a number of ways. If the inflow is inconsistent, manual labor can be overwhelmed during peaks and left standing around during lulls. In the former case, they often create bottlenecks in later processes because they are unable to keep up with high demand. In the latter case, they are left with nothing to do.

Manual labor also slows down and becomes inconsistent late in a shift, especially when dealing with heavy or awkward goods. Automated palletizers, on the other hand, don’t get tired or bored, and don’t stop to answer phone calls, fill out paperwork, or take breaks.