Hard-working helpers during palletizing

Tight time window for labeling and palletizing

In addition to maximum system availability, the Dutch customer's clear requirement was the flexible processing of different carton sizes. The cartons have to be labeled and packed on pallets so that the delivery vehicles can be loaded systematically and quickly within a narrow time window.

The solution implemented by UCS includes two Kawasaki ZD130S high-performance palletizing robots. With their enormous reach of 3,255 millimeters and a maximum payload of 130 kilograms, these robots are the ideal solution for this task. A carton and pallet conveyor system, a film wrapper and labeler were also integrated into the system. The systems are controlled by a Siemens industrial PC and a Siemens PLC S7-300.

Intelligent picking

The two robots are fed cartons of different sizes from the upstream high-bay warehouse via eight ramps. The higher-level WMS system transmits the carton data to the PRM system (palletizing robot management) developed by UCS.

The PRM system stores the carton data in a database for further processing. The PRM system controls the robots and conveyor technology so intelligently that the pallets can be picked optimally and quickly with the cartons. The stability of the carton stack and the different carton sizes could not be ignored. The Kawasaki palletizing robots also proved to be very flexible here, as they can reach different positions and process the incoming cartons reliably and in line with the order. The high cycle time is also no problem, with a maximum robot output of 1,700 cycles per hour.

Packing pattern facilitates unloading during delivery

The packing patterns and the picking sequence when loading the pallets are calculated in such a way that the unloading sequences of the outbound delivery are mapped. This makes it easier to deliver the parcels and saves a lot of time during delivery.

Successful collaboration as a system partner

At the beginning of 2013, U.C.S. Industrieelektronik GmbH entered into a system partnership with Kawasaki Robotics GmbH. The first joint project was launched in March. UCS brings many years of experience in warehouse and conveyor automation, technical knowledge and consulting expertise to the table. Kawasaki Robotics draws on over 45 years of experience as a robot manufacturer in industrial automation. The implementation of the palletizing robots at the wholesale company Rensa was a successful start to the system partnership.

Care is also taken with the label system to ensure that the labels previously attached to the cartons always face the side of the pallet facing the delivery driver. The orientation of the labels helps the delivery driver to quickly find the required box on the pallet and deliver it to the customer quickly.

Great importance was attached to flexibility in the development of the software used, allowing the client to change frame parameters and, for example, quickly adapt carton sizes.

Fast pallet change

The finished pallets are picked up by a double transfer carriage, which has previously picked up an empty pallet from an empty pallet magazine. This avoids idle times, as the new empty pallet is ready for the next picking order. During pallet exchange, the robot naturally continues to serve the three remaining pallets.

The full pallet is moved from the transfer carriage to the film wrapper, which securely wraps the pallet for transportation. The final work step is the fully automatic application of a label with the customer and delivery data to the pallet. The data for this comes from the PRM system programmed by UCS.

Martin Kröger

Contact:

Techn. Handelsbureau Rensa BV 6942 JC Didam, Netherlands Tel.: 00 31 / 3 16 / 29 29 29 E-Mail:

Kawasaki Robotics GmbH 41468 Neuss Phone: 0 21 31 / 3 42 60 E-mail: [email protected] www.kawasakirobot.de

U.C.S. Industrieelektronik GmbH 22880 Wedel Tel.: 0 41 03 / 93 10-0 E-Mail: [email protected] www.ucs-industrieelektronik.de