The challenge: stacking cardboard packaging of different sizes
At one of the largest manufacturers of carton packaging mainly for fast food chains, the need arose to automatically palletise cartons coming from 10 production lines. The challenge was twofold: the huge variety of box sizes and the requirement to recoup the investment within two years.
Too expensive for traditional robots
When using traditional robots, it turned out that three robots were needed to do the job. This made the investment too high. Moreover, the required pallet conveyors were too long and therefore too expensive and this because of the circular reach of the robots. This led to an even higher total investment, making the project unprofitable.
Solution to palletise cardboard packaging: Spider gantry robots
The solution was found in the deployment of Spider gantry robots. Thanks to the linear reach of these palletising robots and the fact that the portal frame on which these robots move could be extended, two robots could be used instead of three. This led to significant cost savings. It also meant that less factory space was needed, which was an additional benefit.
Efficient use of space
Because all pallets could be arranged side by side, the length of the pallet lanes could be shortened. An additional cost-saving advantage was that the two robots had a common working area. The stacks of empty pallets and the magazines for intermediate sheets were set up in this area.
Both robots took empty pallets and intermediate sheets from here, allowing the robots’ portal frame to be shortened. This resulted in an installation that took up less expensive factory space and made the overall investment smaller.
A multifunctional gripper
By deploying a unique vacuum gripper, full rows of boxes of the most diverse sizes could be taken up. This allowed the wide variety of box sizes to be processed at high feed rates. Moreover, this gripper can pick up empty pallets and intermediate sheets.
A future-proof solution
This manufacturer has several sites where Spider portal robots can be used to automate the palletising process of cardboard packaging. Because the number of robots to do the job can be limited and a very compact set-up could be obtained, these projects become feasible for this international manufacturer in terms of payback time. Therefore, the manufacturer will automate other sites in the future.
Smart robots for palletising carton packaging
The deployment of Spider gantry robots at one of the largest carton packaging manufacturers has led to a more efficient and cost-effective solution for automatic palletising of cartons from 10 production lines. This case study shows how innovation and smart technologies can contribute to business optimisation and cost savings. By introducing the Spider gantry robots, it has been possible to significantly reduce both initial and operational costs, resulting in a faster payback period.