The Material Handling Blog

For many distribution centers, unloading trailers and placing inbound product on pallets can be very labor-intensive. There are often hundreds to thousands of boxes in each trailer and these boxes can be large, heavy and hard to reach meaning most reaching, lifting and moving of boxes is done manually. Additionally, the environment inside the trailer can range from cold to extremely hot making it, at times, particularly uncomfortable. As a whole, finding and keeping labor for this essential work often presents a problem. Introducing the right automation to your palletizing operations can address labor availability challenges while also improving margins, throughput and operational flexibility.

Looking to optimize flow of cartons from two production areas and reduce overall labor requirements, Custom Apple Packers turned to RH Brown for automated sortation and palletizing solutions. We were able to design an integrated system that increased throughput to meet the customer’s requirements, while utilizing existing accumulation lanes.

Compact and scalable automation options are trending across consumer-facing markets like grocery and retail but when it comes to manufacturing, leading advanced technologies are also proving to be foundational for future growth.

Analyzing the tasks, rates and capabilities can help not only maximize the robotic system but also help reduce the need for ancillary equipment and additional investments, creating a more streamline operation.

Palletizing and depalletizing with collaborative robots just made a huge step forward. These easy-to-integrate solutions can handle a range of product sizes and styles while eliminating the need for safety fencing and requiring minimal floor space.