How espresso producers are automating palletizing (with payback underneath 1 Yr)

Espresso manufacturing is rising worldwide.

From roasted beans to capsules and pods, producers are rising output to satisfy rising demand. Capsule codecs similar to Dolce Gusto® and different single-serve programs proceed to increase in each retail and meals service.

However whereas packaging expertise has developed shortly, many espresso vegetation nonetheless depend on handbook palletizing on the finish of the road.

That’s turning into more and more troublesome to maintain.

Operators are tougher to rent. Labor prices are rising. And palletizing stays some of the repetitive jobs on the manufacturing ground.

Because of this, many espresso producers at the moment are taking a look at automating palletizing to stabilize operations and cut back labor stress.

Lately, a significant European espresso producer confronted precisely this example.

Their purpose was easy: take away handbook palletizing from their capsule packaging strains with out creating a fancy robotics undertaking.

The standard espresso palletizing problem

The producer was working two espresso capsule packaging strains producing instances of pods prepared for cargo.

On the finish of every line, completed instances have been palletized manually by operators working throughout three shifts.

Their setup appeared like this:

• 2 packaging strains
• 3 manufacturing shifts
• 1 palletizing operator per line
• Steady pallet constructing with interlayers

Every line required a devoted operator to stack instances onto pallets all through the shift.

Over time, the challenges grew to become clear.

Labor prices add up shortly

With handbook palletizing operating throughout three shifts, the corporate was spending roughly:

€180,000 per 12 months in labor prices only for palletizing.

And that price continued to extend as wages rose.

Staffing was troublesome

Like many meals producers, the corporate struggled to maintain palletizing roles crammed.

The job is bodily repetitive:

• Lifting instances
• Repeating the identical movement a whole lot of occasions per hour
• Working constantly on the finish of the manufacturing line

These positions typically expertise excessive turnover and absenteeism, creating further stress on manufacturing groups.

Palletizing can develop into a bottleneck

When palletizing slows down, the complete manufacturing line could be affected.

If instances accumulate on the finish of the road, operators should intervene to clear the backlog, which might sluggish manufacturing or disrupt workflows.

For this espresso producer, handbook palletizing was turning into each a labor problem and an operational danger.

Not each product is straightforward to automate.

However espresso instances are sometimes a superb match for collaborative robotic palletizing.

Espresso producers usually share a number of traits that simplify palletizing automation.

Constant case sizes

Espresso capsules and pods are normally packed into standardized delivery instances, making them predictable for robotic dealing with.

Predictable pallet patterns

Most espresso vegetation use repeatable pallet configurations optimized for transport and warehouse storage.

Robotic palletizing programs can simply reproduce these pallet patterns.

Average choose charges

Many espresso packaging strains function at reasonable palletizing speeds, usually between 4 and eight picks per minute.

These speeds are properly inside the capabilities of collaborative palletizing programs.

Steady merchandise

Espresso capsules packaged in corrugated instances are usually light-weight and steady, lowering complexity for robotic gripping and stacking.

Collectively, these traits make espresso palletizing a powerful candidate for cobot automation.

For this producer, the palletizing necessities have been clear:

• Decide charge: as much as 6 picks per minute
• Pallet top: as much as ~2.4 meters
• Interlayer placement required
• Two unbiased packaging strains

These situations made the appliance a powerful match for standardized cobot palletizing moderately than a customized robotic undertaking.

As an alternative of designing a fancy robotic system, the corporate may deploy pre-engineered palletizing cells designed particularly for end-of-line automation.

The producer put in two collaborative palletizing cells, one devoted to every packaging line.

Every cell handles the whole palletizing course of:

• Selecting completed espresso instances from the road
• Constructing the pallet sample routinely
• Inserting interlayers between pallet layers
• Finishing full pallets prepared for cargo

As a result of the system is constructed round a collaborative robotic (cobot), it may function inside typical manufacturing environments with out the complexity typically related to conventional industrial robotics.

Operators can proceed working close by whereas the palletizing course of runs routinely.

Quicker deployment

One other benefit of standardized cobot palletizing programs is less complicated deployment.

Conventional robotic palletizing initiatives typically require:

• Customized engineering
• Lengthy integration timelines
• Intensive security infrastructure

Collaborative palletizing programs are designed particularly for palletizing, which might considerably cut back set up and commissioning time.

For a lot of meals producers, this makes automation a lot quicker and simpler to implement.

After automation, the producer was in a position to take away handbook palletizing from each packaging strains.

The cobot palletizing cells now deal with the repetitive stacking work routinely.

This created a number of quick advantages.

Operators reassigned to higher-value duties

As an alternative of stacking instances all shift, operators may concentrate on:

• Line supervision
• High quality management
• Materials dealing with and logistics

This allowed the plant to use its workforce extra successfully.

Improved end-of-line consistency

Automated palletizing ensures pallets are constructed persistently and precisely, bettering stability throughout transport and simplifying warehouse dealing with.

Diminished repetitive work

Palletizing includes 1000’s of repetitive lifting motions per shift.

Automation helps cut back repetitive pressure duties, bettering ergonomics for staff.

The economics of the undertaking have been simple.

Guide palletizing throughout the 2 strains price roughly:

€180,000 per 12 months in labor.

By automating the palletizing course of, the producer eradicated most of that recurring labor price.

The consequence was clear:

Payback in lower than 12 months.

For a lot of meals producers, palletizing automation delivers one of many quickest returns on funding within the plant, particularly when labor shortages and rising wages are thought-about.

Many espresso producers assume palletizing automation requires complicated robotics integration.

However many functions are less complicated to automate than anticipated.

In case your manufacturing line contains:

• Average palletizing speeds
• Constant case sizes
• Customary pallet patterns

…it could already be a powerful candidate for cobot palletizing automation.

Curious in case your software is an effective match?

Use Robotiq’s Palletizing Match Device to shortly assess whether or not cobot palletizing is sensible in your operation and what a sensible deployment may seem like in your facility.