FULLY AUTOMATED PALLETISING CELL

Their existing system used two robots to pick and stack the trays however should a tray be wrongly orientated or dislodged from the line, the system would not be able to detect this, leading to loss of product.

Each of the three end-of-line solutions required would need to address these issues and be extremely robust, capable of handling a minimum of 16 trays per minute, working 24/7. Additionally, the trays would contain around 50-60 items leading to an overall pallet weight of around 200kg that needed to be accurately and safely handled ready for storage prior to shipment to their network of retail stores. The need for enhanced traceability would mean label application to each individual tray as well as each completed pallet would need to be integrated. The speed of the solution would also be a considerable factor as the items would be picked from freezer storage, transported to the ambient pick and pack area, before being taken as complete pallets, to a secondary freezer storage area to await distribution.

The pallet when complete with 60 trays, is then wrapped and labelled before being moved via an LAC pallet conveyor to the end zone where a forklift collects the pallet and transports it to the storage area, ready for dispatch to stores.
 

With handling the volume and speed of product being a considerable challenge, L-A-C Logistics Automation enhanced the stacker solution to include servo motors, designed to provide precise control for speed and positioning, ideally suited to this type of application where accuracy and repeatability are vital.

The L-A-C Logistics Automation design has provided our customer with a fully automated and extremely robust solution that is capable of handling 20 trays per minute, equating to 6 million SKU items per line, per week. Each of the three lines automates the entire pick and pack process, to provide a highly accurate system that ensures product integrity, speed of throughput and safe handling of heavy trays.
 

The three integrated end-of-line systems will help our customer achieve their growth objectives, improve traceability and enhance vital pick and pack processes, ensuring both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.