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Across the UK, businesses are constantly seeking ways to optimise operations, boost efficiency, and create safer working environments. For many, the repetitive and physically demanding tasks of palletising has been a significant challenge. 

While essential, palletising is a physically demanding task that leads to a high risk of injury, slow speeds, and inconsistent results. However, the introduction of palletising with collaborative robots is adding value to operations, providing a safer, faster, and more flexible solution.

As well as doing the heavy lifting, cobots streamline processes to perform a range of tasks that require speed, accuracy, and perform relatively complex movements. Cobots are here to change the game of palletising. 

The Challenges of Palletising

Palletising is the process of stacking products onto a pallet in a stable, organised, and secure manner ready for shipping. It’s a crucial step in the supply chain, as it ensures that goods can be moved efficiently and safely. It is a prime example of the kind of repetitive, dangerous and dull manual tasks that cobot automation can eliminate.

Traditionally a manual task, repeated lifting, twisting, and reaching contributes to employee fatigue, strain and injuries, inevitably slowing down production. The demanding nature of the work often results in high turnover rates as employees seek less physically intensive and more rewarding roles. The inconsistent outputs in speed and quality can also impact production and productivity, increasing operational costs, and even hindering a company's ability to meet growing demand.

For human workers, palletising is physically and mentally demanding, and also completely unnecessary when collaborative robots can be integrated. 

The Impact of Palletising with Collaborative Robots

Cobots are inherently safe and designed to work alongside humans. They’re easy to program, and their high levels of adaptability make them ideal for tasks like palletising. Business are positively benefiting from: 

Enhanced Efficiency and Throughput: Cobots can work continuously without breaks, delivering consistent speed and accuracy, capable of performing 24/7. They deliver faster cycle times, the ability to handle higher volumes and meeting tighter deadlines, and reduce efforts, drastically increasing productivity. 

Improved Consistency: Cobots perform tasks with high precision and repeatability. They can place each item in the exact same location every time, ensuring stable and uniform pallet stacks. This consistency minimises product damage during transit and optimises pallet space.

Flexibility and Versatility: Cobots are highly adaptable. They can be quickly and easily reprogrammed and redeployed  to handle different product sizes, weights, and stacking patterns. This flexibility is invaluable  in today's fast-paced manufacturing and logistics environments. Whether it's a new product size or a shift in packaging requirements, cobots can adapt quickly.

Enhanced Safety: Repetitive lifting and bending required for manual palletising can lead to serious injuries. By automating this task, cobots eliminate the risk of workplace injuries, creating a safer environment for human workers.

Space-Saving Solution: Unlike larger, traditional industrial robots, cobots are compact and can operate safely without extensive fencing or guarding. This means they can be integrated into existing production lines without requiring significant overhauls, making them a practical choice for businesses looking to optimise their current layouts.

Composition of a Palletising Cell

Cobot palletising cells are compact and designed for efficiency and safety. They consist of several key components that work together to automate palletising tasks:

• Cobot Arm: The core of the cell, the cobot arm is responsible for picking up products and placing them on the pallet. It's equipped with various safety features that allow it to operate without extensive safety guarding.

• End-of-Arm Tooling (EOAT): This is the "hand" of the robot. It can be a vacuum gripper, a mechanical clamp, or a specialised tool designed to handle specific products. The EOAT is crucial for securely picking up and placing items.

• Conveyor System: This moves products from the production line to the palletising cell, presenting them to the cobot for pickup.

• Pallet Position: This is the designated area where the pallet is placed. The cobot is programmed to stack products in this specific location.

• Safety Features: Although cobots are designed for collaborative work, additional safety features, like area scanners, can be used to ensure a completely safe working environment.

Compared to traditional industrial robots, which often require extensive installation and complex programming, cobots are relatively simple and quick to deploy. Their user-friendly interfaces allow for rapid setup and integration, even by someone with no programming knowledge or prior experience, minimising production downtime. While there is an initial investment, cobots provide a high return on investment through increased productivity, reduced labour costs, and fewer workplace injuries.

CoboTend, our mobile collaborative robot is used across the UK to perform palletising tasks with speed and precision. One tool designed to perform many applications, CoboTend is a versatile solution not only for palletising, but for performing related tasks such as box erecting and packing, applying labels with accuracy, and processing delicate items. 

The Future is Collaborative

The adoption of cobots for palletising is not just about automation; it's about intelligent automation that empowers your workforce and drives sustainable growth. By embracing this technology, businesses can overcome the challenges of physically demanding tasks, unlock new levels of efficiency, and create a future where humans and robots work together for mutual success.

To explore how cobots like CoboTend can transform your palletising operations, contact Cobots Online’s dedicated automation team for a consultant or for a live demo of our automation solutions performing palletising tasks.