Case story mixed palletising0 pages
Case story
Asterix and Obelix now work in Germany
A fully
automated
packing process
has fundamentally
changed the logistics processes at
one of CSi’s leading customers. A custom-built,
fully automatic robot system was designed
and installed which is unique in the small parts
industry and also unique in other sectors! The
system utilises two robots that have replaced
the manual packing functions previously
carried out by several people, over multiple
shifts. The smaller of the two robots takes packs
out of the transport bin, whilst the other robot
stacks it onto the pallet. These new “colleagues”
were named “Asterix” and “Obelix”
.
Key data:
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Industry: small parts
Country: Germany
End-of-line palletiser
Mixed palletising
2 production lines
2 spherical robots per line
450 packs per hour
The idea of automating the packing process
came up three years ago, when the order-picking
department introduced a fully automated storage
system upstream. The old packing process required
the packer not only to create the most stable
stacking pattern, but he also had to sort the articles
according to the
customer’s exact
requirements, by
hand. This picking and
palletising process has now
been fully automated.
By using a series of complex algorithms the system
is able to analyse customer orders and sequence
the automated feed system to allow the robots to
create stable pallets of products, packed in exactly
the correct order. The carefully designed process
ensures that the right product arrives at the right
time so that “Asterix” the picking robot and “Obelix”
,
,
the palletising robot, produce perfect pallets.
Benets:
• Fully automated distribution
activities
• Efficiency / profit
• High level of customer satisfaction
• 100% customised system
• Error reduction
• Cost savings
Creating this system involved a detailed analysis
of the order data provided by the customer and
then breaking this information down to enable
the process to be simplied, and only then fully