The Challenge
Manually palletizing different varieties of SKUs like Pouch Cartons, Tins and Bottles had challenges like throughput limitation, lack of operational visibility and difficulty in meeting market demand.
A leading FMCG brand was struggling with their manual palletizing operations across multiple production lines. The manual processes created bottlenecks that limited their ability to meet growing market demand while maintaining operational efficiency and product quality. With 18 production lines to manage and various SKU types with weights varying from 10kgs to 20kgs, the company needed a comprehensive automation solution that could handle the complexity and volume of their operations.
The Solution
To handle 18 production lines efficiently, Armstrong Dematic automated the system by providing 11 Cepheus - an intelligent Robotic palletizing solution, which gives 100% visibility of the operations and meets high throughput and volume requirements for different varieties of SKUs. The proposed solution handles Pouch Cartons, Tins, Bottles, with weight varying from 10kgs to 20kgs.
The streamlined warehouse automation system optimizes carton handling, sorting, and palletizing for efficient storage and dispatch based on WMS directives.
When cartons are received from the packing line, they are dynamically check weighed with the provision for rejection. Proper accumulation is provided for better flexibility. The uniquely designed gripper handles both Cartons and Tins along with Empty Pallets. Before Palletizing, the system identifies and sorts the SKU based on barcode, weight and colour.
Products are then palletized as per the defined matrix (designed for high throughput). Filled pallets are then transferred either to storage or dispatch based on the request from Warehouse Management System (WMS). Empty pallet stacking conveyors allow continuous pallet buffer to be maintained.
The Robot Palletizers (4 and 6 axis) take very little space and seamlessly integrate with existing material handling equipment. The system also provided an automated empty tin feeding system to TIN filling lines and accommodated future needs of the plant by considering variation in size and weights of Cartons/Cases.
The Results
The partnership with Armstrong Dematic in automating operations delivered significant operational improvements and a rapid return on investment:
Financial Benefits
- ROI of just 2.5 years
- Completely eliminated the Labour cost at the packaging area at individual lines
- Reduced the labour count required for palletizing at individual production lines
Operational Efficiency
- 100% visibility of operations
- Smooth Handling of the product and efficient stacking of the boxes and tins on the pallet
- Minimized the forklift movement in the production area, with improved safety and product quality
- Conveyed filled pallet of Tin, Pouch, BIB and PET line to New warehouse
- 11 Cepheus Robotic Palletizing systems handling 18 production lines
- Seamless integration with existing material handling equipment with minimal space requirements
Safety and Ergonomics
- Eliminated human intervention and made warehouse safer by eliminating the ergonomics strains of manual processes
- Improved safety in production area with reduced forklift movement
Flexibility and Future-Readiness
- System accommodates future needs of the plant by considering variation in size and weights of Cartons/Cases
- Provided automated empty tin feeding system to TIN filling lines
- Dynamic check weighing with provision for rejection
- SKU identification and sorting based on barcode, weight and colour
