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 individual 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 choice 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 type that takes individuals out of labor and places long-term pressure on the workforce. They didn’t need to look forward to the subsequent harm. They wished to forestall it.
So, they made a transfer. They selected to herald a robotic palletizing system—to not substitute somebody, however to take away the chance from a process that simply didn’t make sense for individuals to be doing anymore.
What made this a great match?
The technical facet was simple. The bins are hefty, they’re effectively inside 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 pace or specs. It was about care. They weren’t attempting to remove a job. The palletizing process was simply considered one of many dealt with by their workforce. What they wished was to remove the harm danger. Plain and easy. Plus, the benefit 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 smooth metric—it’s a strong motive to rethink guide duties. Heavy lifting, repetitive motions, and awkward positions take a toll. And even for those who’ve bought succesful individuals in your workforce, 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 vegetation, with sensible instruments that work.
And for those who’re operating a facility the place your workforce is your biggest 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 guide palletizing can tackle an organization and the way automation can alleviate these strains, obtain our Handbook Palletizing Ergonomic Dangers e book by business knowledgeable, Carla Silver.
