Future-Proofing Manufacturing with Smart Palletizing

In manufacturing, efficiency isn’t just about keeping up—it’s about staying ahead. One of our customers, a packaging manufacturer serving grocery and bakery industries, recently took a big step forward by upgrading their palletizing automation. Their journey offers great insights for any manufacturer looking to scale intelligently.

From Custom to Standard: A Smarter Move

This company had already dipped their toes into automation with a UR16-based custom palletizer. It worked, but they saw the potential for more—more throughput, more flexibility, and more standardization. By upgrading to the UR20 with our PE20 solution, they unlocked new capabilities that made a big difference.

Their reasoning? The food and beverage industry evolves constantly, with packaging requirements shifting to meet consumer demands. Their production team needed automation that could adapt just as quickly. The UR20’s extended payload and reach let them handle a wider variety of SKUs, making their operations far more agile.

Beyond Labor Savings: The Real ROI

Many companies justify automation by cutting labor costs, but in this case, the primary driver was scalability. They already had automation; they just needed better automation. The investment in a more advanced palletizer wasn’t just about replacing workers—it was about increasing output, standardizing operations across multiple facilities, and making future rollouts easier.
That’s a key lesson for manufacturers: ROI isn’t just about direct cost savings—it’s about long-term agility.

Wondering how to calculate the ROI of a cobot on your factory floor? Download the Lean Robotics ROI calculator.

Standardization: The Secret to Scaling Up

A major goal for this customer was to standardize their palletizing process across multiple locations. Their previous setup worked, but it was a one-off solution. By choosing a standardized, productized system, they reduced complexity when deploying at new facilities.

This shift solves a common problem: expertise bottlenecks. When automation is custom-built for a single site, expansion becomes tricky because the original expert isn’t always there to support new locations. A standardized approach makes onboarding and maintenance much smoother.

A Smarter Approach to Automation Deployment

For companies rolling out automation across multiple sites, prioritization is key. One of our other customers took a smart, phased approach:

1. Start with the easiest deployment – Pick the simplest application with the least changeover to get an early win.
2. Expand based on learnings – Once the first deployment succeeds, move to more complex lines.
3. Scale confidently – A step-by-step approach reduces risk, optimizes investment, and builds momentum.

Unexpected Wins

One surprising benefit our customer experienced? Increased production efficiency. They initially saw automation as a way to reduce manual work, but after implementation, they realized they had been bottlenecked at the palletizing stage all along. Removing that bottleneck led to better throughput across the board—an ROI boost they hadn’t even anticipated.

Looking Ahead

For manufacturers considering automation, the key takeaways are clear:

• Think beyond labor savings. Consider how automation can expand your capacity and flexibility.
• Standardization is your friend. A scalable solution simplifies deployment across multiple sites.
• Take a phased approach. Start with the simplest applications and build from there.
• And most importantly—don’t go it alone. Companies like Robotiq specialize in helping manufacturers navigate these decisions, ensuring that every step adds value to the bigger picture.

Want to make automation work for you? Let’s talk.