Mixed Palletizing with Scalable Automation

Developed in partnership with Yaskawa Nordic AB, PackMaster is a cutting-edge mixed palletizing solution designed by WSR Solutions to adapt and grow alongside your business. Whether you're seeking to enhance your current manual processes or aiming for a fully automated future, PackMaster's modular design offers a seamless path to optimized palletizing. This flexible solution empowers businesses to scale their operations efficiently, ensuring they can meet increasing demands without compromising productivity or accuracy.

Challenge 

Mixed case palletizing poses a significant hurdle for today's warehouses. The need to handle a variety of products with different sizes and weights in a constantly changing environment makes it a very manual process. This reliance on manual labor is increasingly problematic due to ongoing labor shortages and growing concerns about worker health and safety.  

Repetitive heavy lifting and awkward movements inherent in manual palletizing can lead to injuries and strain, while efficiently utilizing pallet space with mixed cases demands expertise and careful planning that often falls short in manual processes. This results in wasted space and higher transportation costs.  

Furthermore, as businesses expand and order volumes increase, manual palletizing struggles to scale, impacting overall efficiency and order fulfillment.  The lack of precision in manual handling can also lead to unstable pallets and potential damage to goods, ultimately impacting customer satisfaction.  In the dynamic world of warehouse operations, where product flow and order priorities can shift rapidly, manual palletizing simply lacks the adaptability needed to adjust efficiently in real-time.  

To overcome these challenges, a solution that blends automation with intelligent, real-time decision-making is crucial. By harnessing advanced technologies like robotics and 3D vision, businesses can achieve a new level of efficiency, safety, and scalability in their mixed palletizing operations.

Solution

PackMaster tackles these challenges head-on with its flexible and adaptable design.  Available in both single and twin robot configurations, PackMaster can handle a wide range of palletizing needs, accommodating both pallets and roll containers.  

This scalability allows businesses to start with a semi-automated setup, utilizing the Stack Assist Tool (SAT) to guide manual palletizing, and seamlessly transition to a fully automated system with one or two robots as their needs evolve.  At the heart of PackMaster's automation prowess lies the integration of multiple Photoneo MotionCam-3D cameras.  

These advanced sensors provide the Yaskawa robots with real-time 3D vision, enabling them to precisely identify and locate products, even in complex and dynamic environments. This ensures accurate and efficient palletizing, maximizing both productivity and pallet space utilization.  

The Stack Assist Tool further enhances the system's flexibility by integrating with the WSR Server to provide operators with step-by-step guidance, creating stable and complex mixed pallets without errors. This combination of adaptable robotic configurations, advanced 3D vision, and intelligent software creates a comprehensive solution that addresses the multifaceted challenges of modern mixed-case palletizing.

How does it work in practice?

1. Inbound Verification: The system first confirms that incoming boxes are correctly oriented and sized for palletizing. This ensures smooth downstream processing and prevents errors caused by unexpected variations.
   
2. Dynamic Collision Avoidance: Approved boxes are picked up by the robot, and Yaskawa's RapidPlan technology calculates a collision-free motion path in real time. This dynamic planning ensures safe operation even in complex environments with two robots and other moving elements.
   
3. Continuous Pallet Inspection: After each box placement, a 3D camera scans the pallet. This scan is compared against the theoretical "built plan" to verify accurate placement.
   
4. Automated and Manual Correction: If a misplaced box is detected, it is flagged for manual adjustment. Once the inspection confirms a correct configuration, the process continues with the next box.
   
5. Precision Placement at Height: To prevent boxes from being dropped from higher pallet layers, a MotionCm-3D camera provides data to calculate precise corrector values. This ensures secure placement and prevents damage even as the pallet grows and weight increases on lower layers.
   

Key Benefits:

1. Optimal Space Utilization: By leveraging sequenced mixed palletizing, PackMaster’s algorithms calculate the most space-efficient stacking configurations, maximizing pallet capacity and reducing transportation costs.
2. Improved Stability and Security: With knowledge of product composition in advance, the system ensures optimal stability during transport by strategically positioning products based on weight and fragility, thereby minimizing the risk of damage.
3. Increased Throughput and Efficiency: Predictability in product placement allows for better resource coordination, leading to smoother operations and faster turnaround times. This contrasts with on-the-fly palletizing, which introduces variability and can disrupt workflows.
4. Quality Control and Traceability: The ability to plan pallets in advance improves inventory management by enabling better quality control and traceability, ensuring regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction.
5. Adaptability and Scalability: As businesses grow, PackMaster adapts to new demands, refining palletizing strategies with AI and optimization algorithms to meet evolving market conditions.

Conclusion 

PackMaster offers a strategic advantage for companies in logistics and warehouse management. By combining proven methodologies with advanced technology like Photoneo 3D vision sensors, this solution delivers exceptional efficiency, safety, and control in mixed palletizing operations. Whether starting with a manual setup or transitioning to full automation, PackMaster is designed to grow with your business, ensuring you stay ahead in the competitive logistics landscape.