Food and Beverage at the "End of the Line"

As the population grows, the need for food and beverages becomes more substantial. The food and beverage industry needs to use every means necessary to speed up their production and keep their lines rolling along smoothly to keep up with their competition.

Almost every product in the food and beverage industry is stacked on a pallet at the end of the production line for shipping purposes. These products are shipped to stores all over the United States and worldwide. With the use of grippers and robotic palletizers, manufacturers are able to move their products at a faster rate while keeping everything intact.

As the industry has started to switch from manual to robot palletizing, robots are being integrated to meet the unique needs of the customers. With the advancement of robotic grippers, even the most unique packaging can be picked up without an issue at the end of the line.

Due to the wide variety of cartons that are used in the food and beverage industry, the palletizing robots have to be fit accordingly with the appropriate end-of-arm-tooling. Some are fitted with grippers, such as “claw grippers”, that close around a box, pick it up and place it on a pallet.

Others are fit with vacuum grippers that suction onto an item. Even smaller grippers are used when necessary, depending on the size of the package and its contents. This comes into play in the beverage industry when glass bottles are being used. These bottles are now made of lighter weight materials and not as strong as past bottles.

Another instance would be picking up bagged items. Some bags may be sturdier than others, but to reduce spillage, robotic palletizing grippers have to be big enough to enclose the entire bag.

While the robot grippers are important, it is just as important that the robots be prepped for the sometimes extreme conditions that come with the food industry. The palletizing of frozen food is a good example.

Robots can be prepared with special coatings and inner workings so that they can work in freezing temperatures without being damaged or freezing up. This comes in handy when working for hours with the hundreds of frozen food brand names that line neighborhood freezer cases.

Robots.com works with several different manufacturers to fit Motoman, KUKA, ABB, Universal Robots, and Fanuc palletizing robots with the proper end-of-arm-tooling for the job. Whether picking up a box, a carton, bag, or pail, the palletizing robot can be fit with the proper tooling for the job you need done. It can also be altered to fit your unique work environment specifications.

If you are ready to start automating your food or beverage items at the end of your production line, contact Robots.com today online or at 877-762-6881. Our engineers and designers will work with you to come up with a custom food and beverage robotic palletizer to meet your unique needs.