7 Palletizing Cell Layout Considerations That Affect Cycle Time

There are a variety of components to contemplate when you’re designing a palletizing cell. Even small choices that you just make throughout the design part of deployment can considerably have an effect on the efficiency of the robotic, together with the all-important cycle time.

Palletizing cell structure has a really clear impression on cycle time. Placing the parts of your cell in even a barely totally different place can add or subtract seconds off the time to finish one palletizing cycle.

With the suitable palletizing cell structure, you’ll be able to enhance house utilization in your cell, obtain sooner cycle instances, and improve your cell throughput.

Here’s how one can optimize your cell structure shortly and simply.

How palletizing cell structure impacts cycle time

Palletizing cell structure is the association of parts inside a robotic palletizing cell. This contains components like placement of the robots, conveyor place and orientation, pallet dimension, and varied different components.

The structure can considerably have an effect on the cycle time and, thus, the efficiency of your complete palletizing course of. For instance, a robotic that’s positioned farther from the conveyor may take 2 seconds longer to select up a field than one that’s nearer. These 2 wasted seconds shortly add up over the course of a piece shift – for a throughput of 12 pallets per hour, it may quantity to over 2 wasted hours per 24 hours.

When designing your cell, you additionally need to make different choices. For instance, do you need to use centralized or decentralized palletizing? Centralized palletizing includes utilizing a single robotic cell to deal with all of your palletizing duties. Decentralized palletizing includes utilizing a special robotic for every manufacturing line. Your alternative may even have an effect on cycle instances.

There are varied steps to design a robotic cell for palletizing. Optimizing the actions of your collaborative robotic is a robust solution to get exceptional good points from seemingly minor adjustments.

7 concerns when designing a palletizing cell structure

Designing a palletizing cell might be very straightforward, particularly when you use a instrument like our Palletizing Configurator, which does a variety of the onerous be just right for you.

Here are 7 components that can have an effect on cycle time in your palletizing cell structure:

1. Positions of robotic and conveyor

The place of the robotic and conveyors might be crucial consideration in any cell structure.

You ought to place the conveyor in order that it may ship the bins as near the robotic as attainable. Often, this implies orienting the conveyor so it reaches the pallet end-on and never horizontally.

2. Safety gear or fencing

You must separate human staff from palletizing robots, even when utilizing collaborative robots.

Ensure that you just depart sufficient house inside your security fencing or sensor zone in order that every part can match, together with leaving house for individuals to enter to deal with the pallets.

3. Distances between cell parts

The distances between cell parts have a direct impression on the cycle time. Every pointless millimeter that the robotic strikes will add unproductive time to the duty.

Try to cut back distances as a lot as attainable. However, ensure that to depart sufficient free house that you do not improve the prospect of collisions.

4. Height of conveyor

The top of the conveyor, relative to the robotic and pallet, can have an enormous impact on the cycle time.

By putting the conveyor near the midpoint between the highest and backside of the loaded pallet, you may make the velocity of every field placement extra constant. Boxes within the heart of the pallet might be positioned sooner and people on the prime and backside might be barely slower.

5. X-Y distances

As effectively as the peak, the horizontal (or X-Y) distances may add or take away pointless cycle time.

Say that you just add an additional labeling step to the palletizing process. It may really feel pure to position the labeling machine additional away from the conveyor to keep away from collisions. However, this may add additional time to every field placement. Instead, it’s higher to reduce this distance.

6. Position of interlayer dispenser

If you might be utilizing interlayers between layers in your pallet, you will need to think about the position of the interlayer dispenser.

Often, the very best place for the dispenser is correct behind the choose location on the conveyor.

7. Robotic resolution used

Finally, the particular robotic resolution that you just use will strongly have an effect on the efficiency of the cell.

One issue to contemplate is how straightforward it’s so that you can edit the robotic applications. With an answer just like the Robotiq Palletizing Solution, you’ll be able to simply tweak this system when you discover an inefficiency within the cell structure. This lets you proceed to enhance this system and cycle time over time.

The key to an optimum structure: decrease actions

As you’ll be able to see from the checklist above, lots of the concerns that have an effect on the cycle time of your palletizing robotic come down to 1 issue: distance.

By decreasing the distances between parts in your cell, you scale back pointless actions that the robotic has to take between palletizing steps. You ought to attempt to decrease actions whereas avoiding collisions between the weather of the cell.

The easiest rule is to have the choose level as shut as attainable to the drop level.

By planning forward and utilizing instruments like our Palletizing Configurator, you’ll be able to be certain that the robotic strikes in probably the most environment friendly means.

Where to get extra knowledgeable recommendation on establishing your robotic

Do you want extra info on tips on how to arrange your robotic palletizing system?

You can get a variety of detailed recommendation in our free eLearning programs. The course on Lean Robotics for Palletizing is a good place to begin. As effectively as educating you the fundamentals of robotic palletizing, it introduces you to typical layouts and plenty of helpful tips about tips on how to enhance effectivity in your palletizing course of.

What facets of your palletizing cell do you suppose are least environment friendly? Tell us within the feedback beneath or be part of the dialogue on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or the DoF skilled robotics neighborhood.