Depalletizers: Automating Bottle Unloading

Why does the conveyor decide how well the line runs?

The conveyor is the only part of the line that touches every bottle. Guide rail gaps, transfer plate height and accumulation pressure decide whether bottles jam, scuff or fall. Most unexplained short stops on a mature line trace back to a transfer that was set for one bottle format and never re-set.

When does automatic palletizing pay back?

Automatic palletizing pays when the labour it replaces is continuous and the pattern is stable. A plant running two shifts at high case rates reaches payback faster than a single-shift plant with mixed patterns, because a robot needs the pattern defined before it can be programmed.

Site requirements, air and power consumption sit with the Depalletizing & Palletizing.

What does a palletizer need from the building?

Floor loading for a full pallet stack, clear height for the mast or robot envelope, and a pallet dispenser within reach of the operator. These are building decisions taken before the machine is ordered, and changing them later costs more than the palletizer.

Reference unit for this duty: the Conveying.

What does a depalletizer need from the bottle supplier?

Square pallets, consistent layer sheets and a stable stack. Empty bottles are light, so a leaning pallet becomes a fallen layer at the depalletizer. The machine can only work with the stack it is given.

The same question is worked through from another angle in How to Handle and Solve Common Conveyor System Jams.

Frequently asked questions