Many factories automate filling and sealing first, then find that the end of the line has become the bottleneck: people carrying cartons, stacking pallets by hand and wrapping them with a hand roll. End of line automation covers everything from the sealed pack to the wrapped pallet ready for the lorry. This guide shows how the pieces fit together and the order most factories automate them in.
What end of line automation covers
A typical end-of-line sequence, after the product is packed and coded, looks like this:
- Grouping: packs are collated into cases, bundles or shrink packs.
- Conveying and accumulation: cases travel to the palletizing area, with a buffer in between.
- Palletizing: cases are stacked onto pallets in a set pattern.
- Pallet supply: empty pallets are fed to the palletizer.
- Wrapping: the full pallet is stretch-wrapped for transport.
Each step can be manual, semi-automatic or automatic. They do not all need to be automated at once.
Grouping: cases, bundles and shrink packs
How packs are grouped depends on your customer. Retailers may want shrink-wrapped multipacks or trays; distributors may want cartons. Options include an auto bundling machine, an automatic cartoning machine, or an automatic shrink wrapping machine with a shrink tunnel. The grouped unit you choose decides everything after it: the conveyor, the gripper on the palletizer and the pallet pattern.
Conveyors and accumulation: the part that is easy to under-plan
A conveyor system joins the machines. The most important design choice is accumulation: a buffer zone where products can queue when a downstream machine pauses, so the machines upstream keep running. Without it, one short stop at the palletizer stops the whole line.
Different sections need different conveyors: belt conveyors at the packing machines, roller conveyors for finished cases, chain conveyors for pallets, and incline or vertical conveyors to change level. Sizing a conveyor to the fastest machine it feeds, and giving it accumulation where a slower machine follows, is what lets a line actually reach its rated output.
Palletizing: robotic or manual?
Stacking cases onto pallets by hand is heavy, repetitive work and a common source of back injuries. A robotic palletizer picks cases, bags or trays from the conveyor with suction cups or grippers and stacks them in a programmed pattern. One robot can handle several products and patterns, and it can be fitted into limited floor space.
A robot pays back fastest where the stacking is heavy, repetitive, fast or fed from more than one line. Where volumes are low, a well-designed manual station with a lift table may be enough for now.
Pallet supply: the small machine that keeps the robot fed
A palletizer needs a steady supply of empty pallets. A pallet dispenser holds a stack, typically 10 to 40 pallets depending on the model, and releases them one at a time onto the conveyor. It removes one of the heaviest manual lifts in the warehouse and keeps the palletizer from waiting.
Wrapping: semi-automatic or automatic
A pallet wrapping machine wraps the full pallet with stretch film so it stays stable and protected in transit. The choice between semi-automatic and automatic depends mostly on how many pallets you wrap a day:
- Semi-automatic turntable: the operator attaches the film and starts the cycle, then cuts the film at the end. Suits warehouses wrapping up to a few dozen pallets a day.
- Automatic: pallets arrive and leave on conveyors, and the machine attaches, wraps, cuts and clamps the film itself. Suits continuous lines, typically after a robotic palletizer.
- Rotary arm: the arm moves around a stationary pallet; for loads that are unstable, very heavy or very light and should not spin.
In what order to automate
There is no single right order, but a common path is:
- Wrapping first. A semi-automatic wrapper gives consistent loads from the first day, and a powered pre-stretch carriage can reduce the film used per pallet compared with wrapping by hand.
- Conveyors and accumulation next, so cases reach one point without being carried.
- Palletizing when volume, weight or labour makes hand stacking the bottleneck, together with a pallet dispenser.
- Automatic wrapping once the palletizer delivers pallets continuously, closing the loop so the line runs unattended to the forklift.
Whatever the order, plan the layout for the final line from the start: where the robot will stand, where conveyors will run and where the wrapper will sit. That avoids moving machines twice.
Questions to answer before you plan
- How many cases per minute, and pallets per day, at peak?
- What are the case sizes and weights, and how many different ones?
- What pallet size and stacking pattern do your customers require?
- How much floor space is there between the end of packing and the loading bay?
- Which steps cause the most injuries, overtime or delays today?
Safety around automated end-of-line equipment
Automating the end of the line removes heavy manual lifting, but it brings new risks: a robot arm moving at speed, turntables, pallets on conveyors. Robotic palletizers should work inside guarding with interlocked access, so the robot stops when someone enters the cell. Plan walkways, forklift routes and the point where a pallet is collected so people and machines are kept apart. Train operators in how to stop, reset and clear each machine safely, and include this in the layout from day one rather than adding fences later.
Frequently asked questions
Can one robot palletize products from more than one line?
Yes. A robotic palletizer can be programmed to handle different product sizes and pallet patterns, and to serve more than one conveyor, as long as the combined rate is within its capacity.
Do I need to automate everything at once?
No. Most factories automate the end of the line step by step. The important thing is to plan the final layout first, so each step fits into it.
One team for the whole end of line
Welpack designs complete end-of-line systems in Malaysia: conveyors fabricated in our own Puchong workshop, robotic palletizers, pallet dispensers and stretch wrappers, installed and supported by our own technicians. See our palletizing and end-of-line solutions, or send us your layout and volumes for a proposal.