Espresso manufacturing is rising worldwide.
From roasted beans to capsules and pods, producers are growing output to fulfill rising demand. Capsule codecs similar to Dolce Gusto® and different single-serve methods proceed to broaden in each retail and meals service.
However whereas packaging expertise has advanced shortly, many espresso vegetation nonetheless depend on guide palletizing on the finish of the road.
That’s turning into more and more tough to maintain.
Operators are more durable to rent. Labor prices are rising. And palletizing stays one of the repetitive jobs on the manufacturing flooring.
Because of this, many espresso producers are actually automating palletizing to stabilize operations and scale back labor strain.
Just lately, a serious European espresso producer confronted precisely this case.
Their purpose was easy: take away guide palletizing from their capsule packaging traces with out creating a posh robotics venture.
The everyday espresso palletizing problem
The producer was working two espresso capsule packaging traces 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 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 instances onto pallets all through the shift.
Over time, the challenges turned clear.
Labor prices add up shortly
With guide 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 crammed.
The job is bodily repetitive:
- Lifting instances
- Repeating the identical movement a whole lot of occasions per hour
- Working repeatedly on the finish of the manufacturing line
These positions typically expertise excessive turnover and absenteeism, creating further strain on manufacturing groups.
Palletizing can change into a bottleneck
When palletizing slows down, the complete manufacturing line will be affected.
If instances accumulate on the finish of the road, operators should intervene to clear the backlog, which might gradual manufacturing or disrupt workflows.
For this espresso producer, guide 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 wonderful match for collaborative robotic palletizing.
Espresso producers sometimes share a number of traits that simplify palletizing automation.
Constant case sizes
Espresso capsules and pods are often packed into standardized transport 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 methods can simply reproduce these pallet patterns.
Average decide charges
Many espresso packaging traces function at reasonable palletizing speeds, sometimes between 4 and eight picks per minute.
These speeds are nicely inside the capabilities of collaborative palletizing methods.
Secure merchandise
Espresso capsules packaged in corrugated instances are sometimes light-weight and secure, decreasing 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:
- Choose price: as much as 6 picks per minute
- Pallet peak: as much as ~2.4 meters
- Interlayer placement required
- Two impartial packaging traces
These situations made the applying a powerful match for standardized cobot palletizing somewhat 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:
- Choosing completed espresso instances from the road
- Constructing the pallet sample mechanically
- Putting 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 typically related to conventional industrial robotics.
Operators can proceed working close by whereas the palletizing course of runs mechanically.
Sooner deployment
One other benefit of standardized cobot palletizing methods is easier deployment.
Conventional robotic palletizing tasks typically require:
- Customized engineering
- Lengthy integration timelines
- Intensive security infrastructure
Collaborative palletizing methods 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 quicker and simpler to implement.
After automation, the producer was in a position to take away guide palletizing from each packaging traces.
The cobot palletizing cells now deal with the repetitive stacking work mechanically.
This created a number of rapid advantages.
Operators reassigned to higher-value duties
As a substitute 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, enhancing stability throughout transport and simplifying warehouse dealing with.
Decreased repetitive work
Palletizing includes hundreds of repetitive lifting motions per shift.
Automation helps scale back repetitive pressure duties, enhancing ergonomics for staff.
The economics of the venture have 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 outcome 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 advanced robotics integration.
However many functions are easier to automate than anticipated.
In case your manufacturing line consists of:
- Average palletizing speeds
- Constant case sizes
- Commonplace pallet patterns
…it could already be a powerful candidate for cobot palletizing automation.
Curious in case your utility is an efficient match?
Use Robotiq’s Palletizing Fit Tool to shortly assess whether or not cobot palletizing is smart in your operation and what a sensible deployment may appear like in your facility.
