Manufacturing & Warehouse Distribution equipment, service, rentals & support from Abel Womack, Raymond forklift NE Distributor

Skip to content
  • Online Catalogs
  • Contact
  • Locations
  • Customer Login
  • Cleanrooms & Controlled Environments
  • FANUC Industrial Robots
  • Automated Storage and Retrieval Warehouse Systems
  • Manufacturing Solutions
  • Modular Building Systems
  • Raymond Forklifts
  • Mobile Storage Systems
  • About Us
    • Careers
    • Customer Service Policy
    • Customer Testimonials
    • Discover the Difference
    • Our Locations
    • Management Staff
    • Raymond Solutions & Support Center
  • Forklifts
    • Used Forklifts and Equipment
    • Forklift Rentals and Leases
    • J1-TSV Task Support Vehicle
    • Raymond Basics
    • Power Solutions
  • Parts & Service
    • Equipment Maintenance & Repair
    • Forklift & Conveyor Parts
    • Forklift Safety Training
    • Shop Warehouse Products
    • Tennant Sweepers and Tennant Scrubbers
  • Optimization
    • Fleet and Warehouse Management Solutions
    • Lean Management
    • Labor Management
    • Asset & Maintenance Management
    • Operator Assist Technologies
    • Real Time Location System
  • Robotics
    • Industrial Robots
    • ROBOXX
    • FANUC Robot M-20iA
    • FANUC Robot M-710iC
    • FANUC Robot M-410iB
  • Integrated Systems Solutions
    • Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV)
    • Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems
    • Conveyor Systems and Sortation
    • Deep Lane High Density Pallet Storage
    • Pallet Racking and Shelving
    • Mobile Storage Systems
    • Warehouse Automation and Software
    • Indoor Vertical Growing
    • Modular Building Systems
    • Cleanrooms and Controlled Environments
  • Engineering
    • Automated and Robotic Simulation
    • Facility Design and Layout
    • Project Management
  • Information
    • Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Industry Solutions
    • Videos
    • Media Kit
You are here: Home / Blog / Robotic Automation – Not Just for Building

Blog: Robotic Automation – Not Just for Building

About the Author

Peter Haywood is an Integrated Systems account manager with more than 20 years experience in robotics, high-density mobile storage and other automated material handling equipment.

FANUC-Robot-M-410iB
March 2, 2015 – 

Robots are often used to build things, whether it’s assembling products or end of line palletizing. But that is not the only function for which they are well suited.  In many production and processing environments, raw materials, components and unit loads are received by pallet and need to be introduced into the manufacturing process. This is known as depalletizing. Here are a few application attributes to look for when considering robots for depalletizing.

Heavy Loads – Automation should always be considered when the product weight exceeds 10 lbs. That does not mean that it will always be the right solution, but employee health and well-being should be a top priority at any company today, and with good cause. Good employees are hard to find and can usually be moved to a job that adds more value to the business than labor-intensive, repetitive movement work, which presents ergonomic concerns.

Steady Volume – A constant workflow is helpful when operating a robot, but there are many ways to help smooth out the choppy flow to a robotic work cell. Sophisticated controls are available to cause the robot to act only when the pallet is in place and ready to be unloaded.

Awkward Sizes – To pick bulky products from a pallet, more than one person may be required. End-of-arm tooling can be customized to pick up a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and can even adjust automatically to pick up more than one configuration.

Moderate Elevation Differentials – Lightweight products on a pallet might come stacked up to 84 inches high; a less than ideal height for a person to safely or easily reach. Processes with moderate height differentials between the pickup point and the drop off point lend themselves well to robotic solutions.

Fragile Product – Many products are fragile or delicate, such as eggs. Current robot technology allows for very precise movement. Picking up and putting down products can be controlled so that product damage is kept to a minimum.

High Volume – Let’s face it, employees get distracted and fatigued. Automated solutions are quick and designed to run 24/7- with no breaks or sick days. Routine maintenance can be planned to take place when it is convenient for your operation.

Multiple Shifts – Automation requires an initial investment and, in most cases, labor savings is a key component to justifying the cost. The elimination or avoidance of a second or third shift can pay for such an automated robotic solution.

Robotic solutions can be designed for a wide variety of manufacturing and palletizing system processes, especially those with repetitive tasks, providing high throughput and accuracy. So it’s not surprising that industrial robot sales jumped 12 percent in 2013 from the previous year, according to the IFR, and the trend will continue to rise.

Have you considered a more flexible, reliable and efficient solution to keep your goods moving? What are your concerns? Leave a comment below.

About the Author

Peter Haywood is an Integrated Systems account manager with more than 20 years experience in robotics, high-density mobile storage and other automated material handling equipment.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • About Us
    • Staff Directory
    • Raymond Sales & Service Center
    • Discover the Difference
    • Customer Testimonials
  • Blog
  • News
Subscribe to our Blog
Get a weekly email each time a new blog post is published.


 

Raymond_ASASC_2020

Abel Womack - Discover the Difference - logo
1 International Way
Lawrence, MA 01843
800-554-2887

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Linkedin
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Forklifts
  • Careers
  • Fleet Management Solutions
  • Professional Design & Engineering Services
  • Parts
  • Service
  • Forklift Training
  • Pre-Owned Forklifts
  • Forklift Rentals
  • Products
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
Offices In
Massachusetts
Connecticut
New York
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont

Copyright © 2023 · Abel Womack 2.0 on WordPress