Automatic palletizer for bundles

Our client Cooperativa Camnpal was looking for a solution to make the bundle palletizing process automatic. The company is located in Dona Francisca no Rio grande do Sul and manufactures two different types of granular products; this is the first automation project for a whole final line located in the same establishment. Since the beginning, the main requirement of the customer was to handle different products, 22 SKU overall; this variety of products can be managed in 4 separated lines, 3 of which work simultaneously and the possibility to connect the fourth while one stays off.

 The project also includes all the conveying systems, a bag-gripping device, a robot, an automatic pallet storage and a middle layer inserter; all of it is designed for a complete automation that doesn’t need human intervention during the process. The design also allows a future enlargement of the line, with the possibility to attach a robot and three new exits for different products, keeping the same kind of pallet and the same carton warehouse: it will get to 6 lines in total with only two robots managing the whole palletizing process. The first challenge to overcome has been the arrangement of the production coming from three different lines: the new automation had to receive 900 bundles per hour, each one containing 3 different types of product, and handle them as fast as possible in a limited space with one only robot. The second issue was to correctly arrange over the pallet the different formats distributed by the system, in order to ensure the maximum stability: a different program for each product has been set up and memorized on the HMI panel, easy to be found by the operator. The plan guarantees the firmness of the bundles, with a particular picking system to move and place one cardboard every 4 layers, getting the maximum stability for the completely full pallet. TMG achieved a detail-oriented result with this project: one robot placed over a support platform bearing up to 10 tons (robot + conveying + product), three lines beneath, placed to optimize the range of the robotic arm.

This way, the head is capable of picking 1, 2, 3 or 4 bundles at once, following the palletizing scheme and supporting the production of every kind of SKU code.