Case Study

Robotic depalletizing cut shift staffing 67% and scaled to 190 bottles per minute.

Industry: Food & Beverage

A leading spirits producer was running a largely manual depalletizing operation at its Kentucky facility. The process required six people per shift, created frequent product damage, and was generating bottlenecks that slowed the entire production line. With the company’s flagship premium bourbon brand experiencing significant sales growth, they needed to automate the process to reduce labor costs, improve throughput to 190 bottles per minute, and cut product damage, and the solution needed to handle more than 20 different case types without frequent manual reconfiguration. The results exceeded expectations, and the system has since been expanded to support additional lines.

Their Challenge:

High manual labor demand: The depalletizing process required six operators per shift to unstack, orient, and move cases to the production line.
Product damage from manual handling: Inconsistent manual case movement was causing box and bottle damage, creating waste and increasing costs.
Throughput bottleneck: The manual operation could not keep pace with filling line demands, slowing overall production capacity and creating uneven workflow downstream.
SKU variety complexity: With more than 20 case configurations spanning premium and value bourbon SKUs — from small 375ml 12-packs to large 1750ml 6-packs — the system had to handle significant variation in case dimensions and pallet patterns without constant manual intervention.
Ergonomic and safety issues: The existing manual system presented significant ergonomic challenges and recurring safety concerns for operators.
Growth capacity requirement: The customer needed a solution capable of supporting 190 bottles per minute on a new production line, scalable to additional lines if successful.

Our Solution:

Dual-lane full-pallet infeed: A dual-lane infeed conveyor system allows forklifts to load pallets on both sides of the cell simultaneously, enabling continuous operation without interruption.
High-capacity layer-pick robot: The robot picks an entire layer of 10 to 23 cases at a time and deposits them gently onto the outfeed conveyors, dramatically increasing throughput versus single-case manual picking.
Three-stage unscramble and orient system: A multi-stage unscrambling sequence with a color sensor and below-belt scanner automatically rotates cases up to 180 degrees to ensure consistent orientation before the decaser.
Ground-level decaser integration: The system feeds directly to a ground-level decaser, eliminating the need for elevated overhead conveyors.
De-scrambler and narrow-width case conveyor: A de-scrambler handles 6-pack case formats, with conveyor width optimized for the full range of SKUs in the package matrix.
Automatic empty pallet discharge: Empty pallets are automatically conveyed out and stacked for forktruck removal, keeping the cell running without manual intervention between cycles.
The full system was engineered as a turnkey installation, with all mechanical and electrical components integrated and acceptance-tested before going live.

The Results:

Staffing reduced from six to two per shift: The automated system handles what six operators previously managed manually, freeing those employees to be redeployed to other areas of the facility.
Production bottleneck eliminated: Throughput rose markedly after installation, with product workflow into the filling lines running smoothly and consistently across all shifts.
Product damage reduced significantly: Automated layer-picking and controlled conveyor movement eliminated damage from shaking, vibration, and inconsistent manual handling.
Ergonomic and safety issues resolved: Operators were removed from direct repetitive handling tasks, addressing the safety and ergonomic concerns that had persisted under the manual operation.
Expanded to additional lines: The success of the initial installation gave the customer the confidence to expand 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. This gave us more of an opportunity to move our workforce to another area that we were going to hire additional people for.”

Robotic depalletizing cut shift staffing 67% and scaled to 190 bottles per minute.

Their Challenge:

Our Solution:

The Results:

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