In our experience, the investments in robot palletizing offer very high returns on investment (ROI) because it decreases significantly the labour costs. It is common for such investment to offer ROI from 25% to 50% on an annual basis. Moreover, since the palletization is usually at the end of the production process, the increased palletizing speed could potentially remove a bottleneck for the whole production. In this case, the investment has a huge immediate impact on the throughput and consequently on sales and cash flow. Then the ROI of such a project could be even higher.

In some cases when the production process upstream of the palletization is optimized and its capacity increased, the robot palletizing itself could become a bottleneck for the whole production. An obvious solution would be to add more palletizing robots. However, this is a significant investment, and sometimes it is not even feasible as the free floor space is limited. In such cases, it is better to investigate if the work of the existing robots could be optimized.  In the following article, we will highlight one such project.

Our customer needed to increase the palletizing capacity of his Fanuc robot as he has added new production capacity upstream of it. As a result, the palletizing robot has become a serious bottleneck for the whole production. Adding a second robot was possible, but the not preferable solution as the production floor space is very limited.  We analyzed the way the existing robot works and we found out that it is possible to optimize it so that its palletizing capacity would be greater than the production capacity of the upstream production.  We implemented several interrelated improvements:

• First, we organized buffering by introducing intelligent management of the conveyor belts. In the previous configuration, there was no buffer between the robot and the intermediate upstream operation – the bag filling. If the robot could not handle fast enough the palletization, the bag filling was becoming blocked and had to stop working. With the new buffer, we eliminated the blockage of the filling machine during technological downtime of the robot, for example when the full pallet was being replaced by an empty one. Notice on the video below, how the bags are lined up in front of the robot while the pallet is changing. When the second improvement described below was introduced, the robot is fast enough to compensate for the delay and exhaust the buffer. This measure alone increased the throughput by approximately 30%.
• Second, the speed of the robot was limited due to incorrect robot movement, exacerbated by the existing gripper’s gripper design. As a result, at greater speeds, the robot was dropping and sometimes tearing bags. We engineered and manufactured a new gripper, Siviko PBGT1, which has a better grip on the bags and allows for greater movement speeds. We also preprogrammed the robot and optimized its movements. This increased the palletizing speed and throughput by an additional 50%.

• The third step was to integrate the robot with the existing SCADA system that we have built on Ignition by Inductive Automation. Now the operators could easily change the palletization program of the robot in the same user-friendly interface. This eliminated undue idleness.

In the following video, you can see by yourself what the effect of optimization is. On the left side is the robot after the transportation system has already been optimized. On the right side is the robots after all improvement have been implemented. In this case, the robot is palletizing bags from two production lines so that its new capacity could be utilized.

Optimizing the work of the existing equipment or investment in new equipment is always a question that the management should consider. It saves money, time and space. If the palletization is a bottleneck, are you sure whether your palletizing robots working to their full capacity?

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We are pleased to add to our portfolio the integration of Fanuc industrial robots, which allows us to offer flexible and reliable solutions for palletizing, depalletizing, picking, packaging and other material handling. We offer a complete solution that includes the installation and programming of industrial robots and peripherals and other supporting infrastructure such as the design and manufacture of custom grippers, conveyor belts, manipulators, machine vision, Ignition based industrial control systems, dosing systems, sensors and measuring instruments and more.

We believe that robotic systems are yet to find application in Bulgaria and will allow manufacturers to be more productive, optimize their costs, increase the quality of the product and be more flexible in the face of market changes. This will make them more competitive on the international stage. Industrial robots have a number of important benefits:

• Increased efficiency. Industrial robots are built to perform fast and accurate. In addition, they are commonly used to automate production processes that previously have taken much more time and resources to complete. As a result, production line efficiency could be increased.
• Improved quality. Industrial robots have extremely high levels of accuracy and repeatability, which reduces variation and increases the quality of the finished product. This can also reduce the time spent on quality control.
• Improved working environment. Some tasks are too dangerous, intense, or repetitive for humans to carry and can instead be done by industrial robots. As a result, working conditions and safety can be significantly improved.
• Increased profitability. The introduction of industrial robots provides higher levels of profitability with a lower cost of the final product by increasing the efficiency of the production process and reducing the resources and time to complete it, while achieving better quality. The integration of industrial robots saves considerable resources in the mid and long term. In our experience, the return on such projects is on average about 20% to 50% per year, and in specific cases even more.
• Uninterrupted working process. Industrial robots can operate around the clock at 100% efficiency.
• Help with the problem of finding staff. Bulgaria is already experiencing the effects of the demographic crisis, but the intensity will be even higher over the next 20 years. According to Eurostat data, by 2040, the active population in the 15-64 age group is expected to decrease by around 1 000 000 people. This will have a huge negative effect on staffing and labour costs. There is no way Bulgarian enterprises can deal with this problem without automation and production optimization.
• Prestige. Although industrial robots are machines like any other, they have always captivated the human imagination because of their elegance, speed, power and precision. Definitely industrial robots are a symbol of high-tech manufacturing. For this, in addition to all the other benefits listed so far, they can also be used as a marketing tool to impress your customers and partners.

Why exactly did we choose FANUC as a partner in industrial robots?

• FANUC is the only company in the industry to develop and manufacture all its major components in-house, FANUC products boast superior quality and functional reliability coupled with the highest levels of availability. As a result, Fanuc robots are extremely reliable.
• FANUC is also the largest industrial robotics company and has a large portfolio of various robots. Palletizing robots, which is our focus now, are among the fastest.
• FANUC also has a long history with its presence in Bulgaria and offers local support and prevention for the entire lifetime of the robot.

Adding industrial work to our portfolio is a big and important step in the development of the company because it will allow us to give more to our clients. If you are interested in industrial robots and have a specific idea for an application – contact us and we would be happy to discuss it.

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Recently we completed an interesting project that began as a standard palletizing robot project but ended up as something much more complex, with much more value-added and much more interesting from an engineering point of view.

The customer has state-of-the-art manufacturing installation for high-quality thermoplastic road marking paint. It is a powder substance that is packaged in 20 kg plastic bags. The packaging and the palletizing of the bags were becoming a serious bottleneck in the manufacturing process. The reason was that it was all done manually.

An employee had to take an empty bag and hold it under the transport screw through which the powder was pouring. He had to hold the bag straight while it was being filled. Furthermore, he also had to lean forward as the bagging hopper is positioned relatively low from the factory floor. In terms of ergonomics, this is a very bad position. When the bag was full, the operator had to lift the bag and seal it with a heat-sealing machine. Finally, he was ready to manually palletize the bag. This process was being repeated several hundred more times per day.

The job was physically very demanding. Not surprisingly, the factory had difficulties in finding and retaining employees for this job position. Therefore, our customer was looking for a solution with an industrial robot.

The Standard Approach for a Robotized Palletizing

The standard approach to designing a robotized solution for such a manufacturing process is to create series of mechanisms that take care of each step in the process:

• pick up empty plastic bags,
• open them,
• position them under the bagging hopper,
• control the dosing by communicating with the manufacturing plant,
• close and seal the bag,
• finally, palletize it.

Usually, in such systems, an industrial robot is used just for the pelletizing step. All the rest is done with additional hardware – manipulators, transporting systems, conveyors etc. This is expensive to build, expensive and difficult to maintain in the long run and needs significant floor space. The advantage of such a system is that it can achieve faster cycle times. Also, the robotic solution in such a system is simpler and more straightforward.

The other less sophisticated option would be to use a robot just the palletizing and keep the operator doing the rest. In such an approach, the capital costs will be lower, but it will not offer a good return on investment, as the operator would be as busy as before and cannot perform other tasks. Furthermore, he will be a little bit relieved of the physically demanding palletizing, but he will still have to stand in un-ergonomic positions while bagging. Last, but not least, this solution would also require significant floor space as the operator has to be standing at a safe distance from the robot.

Our Industrial Robot for Packaging and Palletizing

We did not like either of the standard solutions as they are either very expensive and demand a lot of space, or have a bad return on investment. We started asking ourselves – is there is a better way? Is it possible to do all those steps in the process with the industrial robot that we have selected? After all, the FANUC M-710iC/70 is a very powerful machine. It has a reach of 2050mm, very good flexibility due to its 6 axes of freedom, it can lift up to 70 kg, it is fast and very precise, with repeatability of just ± 0.04mm.

Another big factor was that the bagging cycle time of the upstream production is 25 kg/min. So, we had enough time to perform all of those 6 tasks with just one robot and with minimum additional mechanisms. This would be the best solution. It will be less expensive than a complex packaging and palletizing line, with a more compact size, easier to maintain and with the ability to work autonomously. Then the operator would be free to do other more value-adding tasks. Furthermore, when the operators were filling big bags, the robot could just move to the side and not interfere with the process.

Dare to Innovate

The biggest challenge for our team in Siviko with this project was to create a complex gripper that can do all the tasks. It would pick up plastic bags, open them, hold them while they were filling in, at the same time check their weight and thus control the dosing of the filling machine, close and seal them via heat sealing, and finally palletize the bags.

Innovating is a painful process as it contains many risks. However, it is essential if one is to achieve much better results than what the standard solutions offer. So, after hundreds of hours spent on engineering, and trial and error we created a completely original design of a gripper and a complete robotized solution that we have not seen elsewhere.

In manufacturing, it is even more important to achieve a high level of reliability. We achieved it with our robotic solution. It was very easy for the operators to understand what the working process is and they knew how to control it. With this peace of mind, they could focus on the more interesting job and leave the robot to do the boring and physically demanding work.

The customer was also very happy, as he solved a big bottleneck problem for his production. Now all the packaging and palletizing was fully automated. It was also cheaper than a standard solution due to our novel approach. It is also easier to maintain as there are fewer mechanisms that can fail. It had a very small footprint and was a perfect fit for a manufacturing process that was making both 20 kg bags and big bags.

Gallery of the Palletizing Robot

Video of the Palletizing Robot

The post More than Palletizing Robot appeared first on Siviko.

Аn aging conventional palletizer in а factory for dry building materials was disrupting the manufacturing process. Increasingly frequent failures were causing long periods of unplanned downtime, stopping the production process.  At the end of the day that resulted in lost revenue. The urgent maintenance and frequent repairs were also costing a lot of money and effort.

It was clear to our customer that this issue had to be resolved. He decided to replace the problematic palletizer with a palletizing robot. Choosing robotic palletizing over conventional palletizer has some key advantages:

• First of all, industrial robot palletizers have fewer moving mechanical components which means much less frequent downtime, less maintenance, and superior reliability.
• Second, the footprint of the industrial robot palletizer is in general smaller, which is always an advantage in the limited space of the factory.
• Third, the robot palletizer offers far greater flexibility as it is far easier to change its palletizing configuration or even assign the robot to do some extra work, as we did in this project. This was very important for our customer, as he uses many different sizes of valve bags.
• In terms of initial costs, the two solutions are similar.
• A key advantage of conventional palletizers is that they can achieve higher speed when there is a limited number of products with a rectangular shape. In our particular case, the robotic palletizing covered the requirements for palletizing speed.

Palletizing by a Fully Automated Robot Palletizing Line is Easy and Reliable

Our fully automated robot palletizing line takes care of the whole process after packaging. It prepares for palletizing 25kg valve bags, palletizes them, and picks and places empty pallets and plastic sheets at the bottom of the pallet. Furthermore, our smart palletizing software Siviko Smart Pallet allows the end-user to create palletizing configurations without any programming skills.

The line uses a FANUC industrial robot, model FANUC M-710iC/70 which features a 6-axis, 70kg payload, and 2050mm reach. The multipurpose robot has a rigid arm, a small footprint, and the best payload and inertia in its category. It also has extremely high axis speeds.

In a good robot integration, the infrastructure around the robot taking care of the material and product flow is of key importance. In this project, we designed and manufactured the transport lines, buffers, and additional hardware servicing the product flow. There are mechanisms and transport lines that take up the full bag off the filling machine, press it to make it more rectangular, and transport it to the pick-up place.

The pallets are placed on a roller conveyor with three sections – one on which the palletizing is taking place, one buffer position, and one position from which the full pallets are being picked up and transported to the warehouse. Furthermore, there is a buffer for empty pallets and sensors that detect when new pallets are being loaded and restrict the robot’s movement in this area in order to avoid a collision. There is also a safety fence with locks and sensors that keep the operator safe.

Siviko PBG-4 multifunctional gripper

A key part of this project was to create the multifunctional Siviko PBG-4 gripper. It has three integrated functions:

• palletize bags at high speed and inertia,
• pick and place empty pallets;
• pick and place plastic sheets on the empty pallet.

This smart gripper enabled us to automate the whole process by using the capacity of the industrial robot instead of installing additional hardware and manipulators. If this is suitable for the required cycle time, this approach is more cost-efficient and requires less maintenance.

The Siviko PBG-4 gripper has integrated sensors that make the system fast and smart. For example, when picking up an empty pallet, the robot knows exactly where the next pallet is located. Then the robot can move fast without risking a collision. Furthermore, the robot knows whether it has picked up a plastic sheet or not and automatically tries again if the pick-up was not successful.

Siviko Smart Pallet Software

The Siviko Smart Pallet software is at the heart of the control system of the line. The operators now can create and manage their own palletizing configurations and control each important aspect of the palletizing line.

The operator can create and edit the palletizing configuration by entering some key parameters:

• Bag’s size, weight, and orientation;
• Pallet dimensions;
• Layout program configuration for even and odd rows;
• The number of objects per row and the number of rows.

Based on the input information, the software creates a palletizing configuration and commands the robot’s movements. Furthermore, it verifies the entered information and does not allow palletizing configurations that are physically impossible or dangerous. The operator can now easily, fast, and safely create or edit palletizing programs without specific programming skills.

The software also acts as a SCADA and HMI system giving an overview and control of the whole palletizing line, as well as alarming, historic data about productivity, etc. With the help of the Siviko Smart Pallet, robotic palletizing becomes much more flexible and easier to use.

„Everyone can deliver and program a robot, but few can create smart grippers“

The first time we showed the palletizing system to the public was at the biggest technology fair in Bulgaria – Machtech and Innotech in September 2021. People got really fascinated by the versatility of the gripper, the speed of the robot, and the ease of re-configuring the pallet configuration. As a result, we enjoyed one of the most visited booths.

A few months after the fair, FANUC published our video. It became one of the most watched videos on their channel for the last few months. Once again, we received a lot of praise from across the world for the smart way our palletizing line handles the task of palletizing a bag, picking and placing plastic sheets, and palletizing. One person even wrote us the following message:

“Anyone can provide a robot and the program – but not everyone can design a good gripper. I like the concept of the one robot picking placing pallets and Interface sheet and then stacking… good use of space.”

This is really nice feedback. And that is exactly what we want to achieve with our projects – to deliver maximum value with the equipment at hand. So, if you are looking for robotic palletizing for your factory or if you want to automate a process even more complex than that, give us a call or write a message. We will be happy to discuss the options.

Gallery of the Palletizing System

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The three biggest obstacles to the use of more industrial robots in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are the high initial investment, lesser flexibility compared to human labor, and the lack of people with robot programming skills. In the past year 2022, we completed three robotic palletizing projects. In all of them found creative solutions to these problems.

Palletizing in small and medium enterprises needs a combination of flexibility and an affordable price

Almost every manufacturing company must prepare the packaged products for transport by arranging them on a pallet. A variety of products are palletized, but the most common packages are bags, boxes, stacks, buckets, and bottles. This process does not add value to the final product. However it can be a bottleneck for production because the volumes are usually large and the work is boring and hard. Moreover, companies find it increasingly difficult to find employees for this job.

The good news is that boring, repetitive, and heavy tasks like palletizing are well suited to robotization. The challenge in this type of project is to achieve the combination of a very good price that offers a good return, with the ability to palletize a large number of different items produced in short series without re-adjustments and without programming skills. The problem is that usually, a good price implies a simple solution. While flexibility and ease of use are usually associated with a more complex solution and a correspondingly higher price.

Our solution is a combination of correctly sized and reliable robots, multifunctional Siviko grippers, and easy-to-use palletizing software, through which our customers can operate the robot without specialized programming knowledge. This allows us to achieve a maximum good return on investment. In this way, robotic palletizing becomes cost-effective and affordable even in factories that produce small batches of diverse products. In the next three projects, we will talk about this approach in detail.

Project #1: Palletizing boxes with a robot with a 35 kg load capacity

The task in this project was to palletize over 10 types of boxes of various sizes and weights up to a maximum of 13 kg. In addition, some of the boxes have display openings and are closed with a lid, which makes them very unstable and difficult to palletize. A driving factor in this project was the lack of space in the factory and the limited budget.

The first step in solving this problem was the selection of an industrial robot model FANUC M-20iD/35. It is a compact, fast, and affordable robot, but it is rarely used for palletizing because it has a load capacity of only 35 kg, which must include the weight of the gripper. The integration of a larger and correspondingly more expensive robot is easier because it offers greater payload and greater range and has more room for error. However, for this project, the FANUC M-20iD/35 is a wonderful choice due to its price and size.

The gripper design and the palletizing system’s management are key in accomplishing affordable robotic palletizing

To address the limitations imposed by the robot’s payload capacity, we designed a special Siviko PBXG lightweight gripper. It grips the boxes from the bottom and one side and holds them from the top. This allows the boxes to be transported quickly, despite their instability. In addition, the gripper is designed in such a way that it can work with all ten types of boxes without the need for readjustment.

The management of the robot is maximally simplified and budget-friendly. Robot programs are selected from the robot control panel from a drop-down menu. Thus, the robot can be operated by people without special qualifications. In addition, the user can independently make minor changes to the program by changing a given parameter. For example, he can change the height of the pallet.

As a result of the combination of the three components – a compact and affordable robot, a flexible and stable gripper, and easy control, we have achieved a final result that is an ideal solution for smaller factories. Budget, but very reliable and flexible palletizing.

Project #2 – Automated robotic bag palletizing line

In our second project, we replaced an old conventional palletizer with a fully automated robotic palletizing line. We achieved a better return on the project by programming and equipping the robot to do three different tasks – palletizing, picking and placing an empty pallet, and placing a nylon pad.

The automated system takes care of the whole process after packing. She prepares for palletizing several dozen types of valve bags with a maximum weight of 25 kg, palletizes them, and picks up and places empty pallets and nylon underlay. Additionally, our Siviko Smart Pallet palletizing software allows the end user to create palletizing configurations themselves without any programming skills.

In this project, we have used a FANUC industrial robot, model FANUC M-710iC/70 which features a 6-axis, 70kg payload, and 2050mm reach. In a good robot integration, the infrastructure around the robot taking care of the material and product flow is of key importance. In this project, we designed and manufactured the transport lines, buffers, and additional hardware servicing the product flow. There are mechanisms and transport lines that take up the full bag off the filling machine, press it to make it more rectangular, and transport it to the pick-up place.

The pallets are placed on a roller conveyor with three sections – one on which the palletizing is taking place, one buffer position, and one position from which the full pallets are being picked up and transported to the warehouse. Furthermore, there is a buffer for empty pallets and sensors that detect when new pallets are being loaded and restrict the robot’s movement in this area in order to avoid a collision. There is also a safety fence with locks and sensors that keep the operator safe.

The multifunctional Siviko PBG-4 gripper has a key role in achieving affordable robotic palletizing

A key part of this project was to create the multifunctional Siviko PBG-4 gripper. It has three integrated functions:

• palletize bags at high speed and inertia,
• pick and place empty pallets;
• pick and place plastic sheets on the empty pallet.

This smart gripper enabled us to automate the whole process by using the capacity of the industrial robot instead of installing additional hardware and manipulators. If this is suitable for the required cycle time, this approach is more cost-efficient and requires less maintenance.

The Siviko PBG-4 gripper has integrated sensors that make the system fast and smart. For example, when picking up an empty pallet, the robot knows exactly where the next pallet is located. Then the robot can move fast without risking a collision. Furthermore, the robot knows whether it has picked up a plastic sheet or not and automatically tries again if the pick-up was not successful.

The software application Siviko Smartt Pallet allows the end-user to manage independently the palletizing process

The robot is managed via Siviko Smart Pallet, our smart software application. It allows the end-user to create palletizing configurations without programming skills. They have to enter only the specific configuration:

• Object’s (bag, boxes, etc.) size, weight, and orientation;
• Pallet dimensions;
• Layout program configuration for even and odd rows;
• The number of objects per row and number of rows.

Based on the input information, the software automatically commands the robot’s movements. In addition, it verifies the information entered and does not allow configurations that are physically impossible or dangerous. In this way, users can easily and safely create or edit palletizing programs independently of the system integrator. With this software, robotic palletizing becomes much more flexible and easier to use for the end user.

Again, the right combination of a well-chosen robot, multi-functionality, and flexibility of use allowed us to deliver maximum value within the given budget.

Project #3 – An industrial robot serves two production lines at the same time

In our third palletizing project, we replaced an existing robot with a new FANUC M-410iC/110 palletizing robot. This robot is among the fastest four-axis palletizing robots in the world. We settled on it because its 2,400 mm reach and 110 kg load capacity allowed us to increase the level of production automation. Like the previous project, the robot had to do two additional tasks – pick up and place an empty pallet and place a plastic liner. The big difference between the two projects is that in this project the robot serves two production lines at the same time. The M-410iC/110 is a large robot, but since it serves two production lines, the overall solution is compact and with good returns.

Conclusion

We believe that robotization has just begun in Bulgaria, and the real challenge is to make it accessible even to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies that have more limited budgets and space. Successful and good projects are those where we have provided maximum added value to the client within their budget. Choosing a properly sized robot, using a multi-functional gripper that does not need readjustment, and easy control of the robot’s programs, without special skills, are the basis of this success.

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