Espresso manufacturing is rising worldwide.
From roasted beans to capsules and pods, producers are rising output to fulfill rising demand. Capsule codecs akin to Dolce Gusto® and different single-serve techniques proceed to develop in each retail and meals service.
However whereas packaging know-how has developed shortly, many espresso vegetation nonetheless depend on handbook palletizing on the finish of the road.
That’s turning into more and more tough to maintain.
Operators are tougher to rent. Labor prices are rising. And palletizing stays probably the most repetitive jobs on the manufacturing flooring.
In consequence, many espresso producers are actually taking a look at automating palletizing to stabilize operations and scale back labor strain.
Not too long ago, a serious European espresso producer confronted precisely this case.
Their objective was easy: take away handbook palletizing from their capsule packaging traces with out creating a posh robotics venture.
The standard espresso palletizing problem
The producer was working two espresso capsule packaging traces producing circumstances of pods prepared for cargo.
On the finish of every line, completed circumstances had been palletized manually by operators working throughout three shifts.
Their setup seemed like this:
- 2 packaging traces
- 3 manufacturing shifts
- 1 palletizing operator per line
- Steady pallet constructing with interlayers
Every line required a devoted operator to stack circumstances 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 yr in labor prices only for palletizing.
And that value continued to extend as wages rose.
Staffing was tough
Like many meals producers, the corporate struggled to maintain palletizing roles stuffed.
The job is bodily repetitive:
- Lifting circumstances
- Repeating the identical movement lots of of instances per hour
- Working constantly on the finish of the manufacturing line
These positions usually expertise excessive turnover and absenteeism, creating further strain on manufacturing groups.
Palletizing can turn into a bottleneck
When palletizing slows down, the complete manufacturing line might be affected.
If circumstances 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 threat.
Not each product is straightforward to automate.
However espresso circumstances are sometimes a wonderful 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 often packed into standardized transport circumstances, 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 techniques can simply reproduce these pallet patterns.
Average decide charges
Many espresso packaging traces function at reasonable palletizing speeds, usually between 4 and eight picks per minute.
These speeds are properly inside the capabilities of collaborative palletizing techniques.
Steady merchandise
Espresso capsules packaged in corrugated circumstances are usually light-weight and steady, lowering complexity for robotic gripping and stacking.
Collectively, these traits make espresso palletizing a robust candidate for cobot automation.
For this producer, the palletizing necessities had been clear:
- Choose charge: as much as 6 picks per minute
- Pallet top: as much as ~2.4 meters
- Interlayer placement required
- Two unbiased packaging traces
These situations made the appliance a robust match for standardized cobot palletizing slightly than a customized robotic venture.
As a substitute of designing a posh 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 entire palletizing course of:
- Selecting completed espresso circumstances from the road
- Constructing the pallet sample robotically
- 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 will probably function inside typical manufacturing environments with out the complexity usually related to conventional industrial robotics.
Operators can proceed working close by whereas the palletizing course of runs robotically.
Quicker deployment
One other benefit of standardized cobot palletizing techniques is easier deployment.
Conventional robotic palletizing initiatives usually require:
- Customized engineering
- Lengthy integration timelines
- In depth security infrastructure
Collaborative palletizing techniques are designed particularly for palletizing, which might considerably scale back set up and commissioning time.
For a lot of meals producers, this makes automation a lot sooner and simpler to implement.
After automation, the producer was capable of take away handbook palletizing from each packaging traces.
The cobot palletizing cells now deal with the repetitive stacking work robotically.
This created a number of quick advantages.
Operators reassigned to higher-value duties
As a substitute of stacking circumstances all shift, operators may give attention to:
- 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, enhancing stability throughout transport and simplifying warehouse dealing with.
Lowered repetitive work
Palletizing includes 1000’s of repetitive lifting motions per shift.
Automation helps scale back repetitive pressure duties, enhancing ergonomics for employees.
The economics of the venture had been easy.
Handbook palletizing throughout the 2 traces value roughly:
€180,000 per yr in labor.
By automating the palletizing course of, the producer eradicated most of that recurring labor value.
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 of.
Many espresso producers assume palletizing automation requires complicated robotics integration.
However many purposes are easier to automate than anticipated.
In case your manufacturing line contains:
- Average palletizing speeds
- Constant case sizes
- Customary pallet patterns
…it could already be a robust candidate for cobot palletizing automation.
Curious in case your utility is an effective match?
Use Robotiq’s Palletizing Match Software to shortly assess whether or not cobot palletizing is sensible to your operation and what a practical deployment may seem like to your facility.
