The emergence of collaborative robots, or cobots, has opened up a fascinating range of new applications that can now be safely automated.

In the packaging space, this includes applications such as pick-and-place sorting, case erecting, case packing and case palletising.

With their ability to safely work alongside humans and with labour supply constraints and rising costs, the demand for cobots will continue to grow.

A constraint that Foodmach has observed, however, is that even though they are designed to be simple to integrate into existing applications, a sound knowledge of robot programming is still required in order to extract the full potential of the technology.

Once the integration work is completed, if your needs change in the future, a programmer is usually needed to make the necessary adjustments.

It’s these constraints and the associated high cost and limited supply of programming expertise that have limited the growth expectations of this exciting technology.

There are several bespoke cobot palletisers we are aware of, but all of them require up to one day of programming for each unique case size and pallet pattern. And when your needs change, the programmer needs to return to site.

 

Enter the INSTANT PALLETISER

A new technology from Foodmach for palletising applications that don’t require high speeds and heavy caseloads, this cobot-powered palletiser fills a need for many small to medium-sized FMCG manufacturers.

INSTANT PALLETISER has a super smart and intuitive touchscreen interface that asks you to enter the case size, pallet size and a couple of other criteria. It then automatically generates a range of layer pattern options; you choose the one you prefer, and it then automatically programs the cobot.

And it’s all done within five minutes, without requiring a programmer.

The real benefit for manufacturers is the speed to deploy the technology at the outset, but also to easily adapt the solution at zero cost when your needs inevitably change in the future.

 

Cobots made useable

Solution-focused technology like this from Foodmach will make automation deployment more widely available to all sizes of FMCG manufacturers.

Of course, cobots are not for every manufacturers, as they operate at lower speeds and weights. Currently the INSTANT COBOT PALLETISER features a Doosan P3020 robot arm that handles up to 28 kg cases or two 14 kg cases. Variable multi-pick capabilty means it can pick one or two cases on any cycle and palletise up to 16 cases per minute. It stacks in one or two locations at heights of up to 2,500 mm.

We've also got an INSTANT PALLETISER robot all-in-one mobile work cell that handles cases up to 35kg at 12 cycles a minute or 24 cases per minute for 17kg cases.

If you need to handle heavier loads at/or higher speeds, see our range of palletisers for every application, from 6 cases to 100 cases per minute, mechanical or robotic, low or high level, able to handle one SKU or hundreds—all with intuitive pallet pattern programming software.

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