At first look, palletizing ice cream cone bins doesn’t sound like a high-risk job. However when these bins weigh 35 to 40 kilos and have to be stacked shoulder-high, shift after shift, 5 days per week—you begin to perceive the pressure it places on individuals.
That’s precisely what one main U.S. meals producer realized. They produce a variety of cones—waffles, sugar, and cake. Regardless of their scale and attain, what actually stood out to us was one thing else: their tradition.
This firm operates as an ESOP—an Worker Inventory Possession Plan—which suggests each particular person on the ground has actual pores and skin within the sport. From the entrance workplace to the manufacturing line, all of them personal a chunk of the enterprise. And when that’s the case, security turns into greater than a coverage. It turns into private.
Why automate?
It wasn’t a labor scarcity that drove their determination to automate palletizing. It wasn’t even about effectivity within the conventional sense. The spark got here from a really human place: too many shoulder accidents. Lifting heavy bins again and again, particularly to the highest of a pallet, was inflicting issues. The sort that takes individuals out of labor and places long-term pressure on the group. They didn’t wish to await the subsequent damage. They wished to stop it.
So, they made a transfer. They selected to usher in a robotic palletizing system—to not change somebody, however to take away the chance from a job that simply didn’t make sense for individuals to be doing anymore.
What made this match?
The technical facet was easy. The bins are hefty, they’re effectively throughout the payload vary of a cobot palletizer. The corporate already had Common Robots on-site, so integrating one other one with our PE20 was acquainted territory.
However the true match wasn’t about velocity or specs. It was about care. They weren’t attempting to get rid of a job. The palletizing job was simply one among many dealt with by their group. What they wished was to get rid of the damage danger. Plain and easy. Plus, the convenience of use of the programming interface allowed to upskill some operators who can now use the robotic.
A takeaway for meals producers
Automation sometimes will get evaluated by the lens of labor financial savings. However this story is a reminder: ergonomics matter. Employee security isn’t a comfortable metric—it’s a robust purpose to rethink handbook duties. Heavy lifting, repetitive motions, and awkward positions take a toll. And even should you’ve received succesful individuals in your group, that doesn’t imply they need to be doing these jobs.
This isn’t about chasing buzzwords like “lights-out manufacturing.” It’s about fixing actual issues in actual crops, with sensible instruments that work.
And should you’re operating a facility the place your group is your best asset—like this one—you would possibly discover that the enterprise case for automation is stronger than you suppose. For in-depth insights on the toll handbook palletizing can tackle an organization and the way automation can alleviate these strains, obtain our Handbook Palletizing Ergonomic Dangers e-book by trade skilled, Carla Silver.
