Robotic Depalletizing That Cut Shift Staffing by Two-Thirds
A layer-pick robot and smart case handling replaced a six-person manual operation feeding a distillery's bottling lines.
A leading Kentucky spirits producer was unloading pallets of empty-bottle cases by hand to feed its bottling lines. It took six people per shift, damaged product and could not keep up with the fillers.
With its flagship bourbon brand growing fast, the producer asked Han-Tek for a turnkey robotic depalletizing system that could feed a new 190-bottle-per-minute line and handle more than 20 case formats. Staffing dropped to two per shift, the bottleneck went away, and the system has since been expanded to more lines.
A manual job that was holding back the bottling lines
Depalletizing is the first step on a bottling line: cases of empty bottles come off incoming pallets and get fed to the decaser. Here it was done by hand, and it could not keep pace with demand for the producer's fastest-growing brand.
Six people per shift
Operators unstacked, turned and moved every case by hand.
Damaged product
Inconsistent handling damaged boxes and bottles, adding waste and cost.
A line bottleneck
Manual unloading could not keep up with the filling lines.
And any new system had to handle more than 20 case formats without constant changeovers.
Pick a full layer, then sort it out on the conveyor
Han-Tek designed and built a turnkey depalletizing system. Here is how a pallet of cases gets to the decaser.
- 1
Two pallet lanes
Forklifts drop full pallets on either side of the cell, so the robot always has a pallet to work.
- 2
Layer pick
A FANUC robot with a layer gripper lifts 10 to 23 cases at a time and sets them gently on the outfeed.
- 3
Unscramble and orient
A three-stage system separates the cases and turns them up to 180 degrees, using a color sensor and a below-belt scanner.
- Ground-level decaser: the system feeds the decaser directly, with no elevated overhead conveyors.
- 6-pack formats: a de-scrambler and narrow-width conveyor handle the larger 6-pack cases.
- Empty pallets: discharged and stacked automatically for forklift pickup, so the cell keeps running between pallets.
- Tested first: all mechanical and electrical components were integrated and acceptance-tested before going live.
Fewer people on the job, and no more bottleneck
| Area | Before: manual | After: robotic |
|---|---|---|
| Operators per shift | Six | Two |
| Line flow | Bottleneck behind the fillers | Steady feed on every shift |
| Product damage | Frequent | Significantly reduced |
| Case handling | Repetitive lifting by hand | Full-layer robot picks |
| Lines served | One new line planned | Expanded to more lines |
- Staffing cut from six to two per shift: the freed operators moved to other areas of the plant.
- Bottleneck eliminated: throughput rose markedly and cases now flow smoothly into the filling lines.
- Less damage: layer picking and controlled conveying ended damage from rough manual handling.
- Safer work: operators no longer do the repetitive lifting.
- More lines: the customer expanded the same system to additional production lines.
"When Han-Tek came in, they evaluated the whole situation, and it was a flawless transition from existing equipment to new equipment they added."
Questions about robotic depalletizing
What is robotic depalletizing?
A robot takes cases or products off incoming pallets and feeds them into the line. It is the reverse of palletizing, and it removes one of the most repetitive lifting jobs in a plant.
Can one robot handle many different case sizes?
Yes. This system handles more than 20 case formats, from 375 ml 12-packs to 1.75 L 6-packs.
What is layer picking?
The robot's gripper lifts a whole layer of cases from the pallet at once, 10 to 23 cases here, instead of picking cases one at a time. That is how one robot keeps up with a fast line.
Does a depalletizer need overhead conveyors?
Not always. This system feeds a ground-level decaser directly, so no elevated overhead conveyors were needed.
More end-of-line and packaging projects
Let a robot take the pallets apart.
Tell us your case sizes, pallet patterns and line speed. A Han-Tek engineer will tell you what a robotic depalletizer would take.
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