TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY MIXEDCASE CASEPALLETISING PALLETISING MIXED
ELIMINATING TRAVEL: FULL CASE ORDER ASSEMBLY
AUTOMATED MIXED CASE PALLETISING We preview two new Dematic technology breakthroughs that revolutionise the speed, safety and efficiency of both manual and automated mixed case pallet assembly. Until recently, the only way to assemble a pallet containing many different SKUs (stock keeping units) was to do it manually. But as logistics professionals know, repetitive and heavy tasks are both physically demanding and costly. And, unless mixed case pallets are carefully assembled by experienced personnel, the resulting stacks of goods may be unstable, risking product damage during transport and adding to transport costs by taking up more cubic space than necessary. Driven by OH&S concerns and skills shortages, there is an increasing demand for smart solutions that take mixed case palletising in a new and exciting direction. New advances in software, robotics and intelligent storage, buffering and sequencing systems have enabled the development of two innovations designed to reduce the cost and significantly improve the efficiency, productivity and safety of building mixed case pallets – ErgoPall Ergonomic High Rate Palletising Stations and AMCAP (Automated Mixed Case Palletising).
Both systems employ a combination of automated storage, buffering and sequencing systems, advanced software and automated materials handling equipment, the main difference being that ErgoPall still uses people to build the pallets – but in an ergonomic way – while AMCAP uses sophisticated robotic palletisers. Facilitating high rate, mixed case palletising
Advances in software, controls and buffering and sequencing technologies have taken automated mixed case palletising in a new and exciting direction.
To process and palletise mixed cases accurately at high speeds, products need to be fed in the correct sequence to suit pallet assembly. Key to ErgoPall and AMCAP was the development of storage, buffering and sequencing systems including Dematic’s Miniload and Multishuttle® automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS). Dematic’s impressive storage buffer and sequencing technology has revolutionised the possibilities with order assembly. Manual mixed case order assembly, in particular, can be done more safely and with much greater efficiency, accuracy and productivity when goods are presented for palletising in the correct sequence.
DEMATIC LOGISTICS REVIEW
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