Palletising that follows the season

In food, beverage and consumer goods, the end of the line rarely runs at the same pace all year. One line runs flat out before Christmas and has low utilisation in spring. Another peaks in summer. A palletiser built for one line is sized for that line's peak, and waits the rest of the year.

One robot, several lines

An OpiFlex palletising cell is mobile. It is moved with a pallet truck, manually or by AGV, and docks at the line where the volume is right now.

In one example from food, three lines run at 32 %, 24 % and 26 % utilisation over the year. Shared by one mobile robot, the total utilisation reaches 82 %.

Mixed pallets and display pallets

Display pallets are marketing's dream and production's nightmare: many variants, short campaigns, a lot of manual work. A display pallet cell can take five input pallets, change tools automatically, and handle layer sheets, covers and stabilisers before the pallet goes to the wrapper.

Mixed pallets are built dynamically from the order in the ERP system, with up to six output pallets at the same time. Our 3D Tetris algorithm plans the pattern and reaches a fill rate of up to the high 90s %. It is fully deterministic and needs no AI and no training.

Traceability and AGV

In safety-sealed palletising, patented safety grippers and logging of each package give full traceability on the pallet. The cell can work with AGVs from Toyota Material Handling: the AGV collects the finished pallet and brings in a new one.

A high fill rate also matters for the EU packaging regulation (PPWR), which includes a requirement to keep empty space below 50 %.

Results

In the Orkla display pallet case, the flexible cell takes 80 % less floor space than a traditional solution and has 2.6 times higher capacity. Orkla has since placed a follow-up order for flexible display pallet solutions in two factories, Kumla and Örebro.

The cell can also be rented through our sister company Rent a Robot: no initial cost, you pay when it produces.

Next step

Tell us how your volumes vary over the year and which lines you are thinking of. A few pictures of the end of the line help us understand your situation before we talk. Contact us here.