Palletising: what it is and why it is important

In the industrial environment, palletisation is essential for the management, organisation and transport of goods. It consists of arranging products on pallets in an orderly and stable manner, simplifying their transport and handling within a warehouse and during distribution. In other words, products are placed on pallets forming a loading unit that is extremely manageable. Palletisation brings several advantages in material handling activities:

• Simplifies the loading and unloading of products in transport vehicles;
• Maximises storage space on the pallet;
• Reduces the risk of damage to products during movement.

Palletising correctly is essential to ensure maximum performance and optimise logistics time. Automating the process with the use of robotics is desirable because it makes this operation more accurate, faster and more stable.

So how does the use of automatic palletisers improve palletising and increase company productivity? Let us analyse in detail.

What is an Automatic Palletiser

First of all, what is an automatic palletiser? It is a machine used to organise and stack products on pallets in an orderly and stable manner, thus preparing them for transport or storage. Thanks to automation, the machine receives the products, usually from a production line or conveyor belt, and places them on a pallet support.

The palletiser executes a pathway established during the design phase: it can be programmed to create different stacking patterns according to the goods handling requirements. It can be integrated with robot arms, mechanical suction cups and machine vision systems that allow for more precise and optimised palletisation of products.

Benefits of Automated Palletising

Palletising is a process widely used in logistics and industry, especially to handle large volumes of goods and heavy products.

The use of an automatic palletiser offers significant advantages in terms of productivity, costs, safety and quality, enabling companies to optimise their logistics operations and improve their competitiveness in the market. There are in fact numerous advantages of automatic palletising:

• Increased efficiency: an automatic palletiser can work uninterrupted and at a constant speed, increasing productivity and reducing time. This results in greater overall efficiency of operations.
• Improved safety: manual palletising can lead to the risk of accidents or injuries to personnel, especially when working with heavy loads or bulky objects. By automating the process, risks can be significantly reduced and safety in the workplace improved.
• Accuracy and consistency: automatic palletisers are programmed to position products with extreme precision and consistency, correctly managing load distribution and helping to prevent damage to products during transport or storage.
• Flexibility and adaptability: Thanks to advanced software and flexible programming capabilities, palletisers easily handle different product types, formats or stacking patterns without the need for costly hardware modifications.
• Space optimisation: by programming the palletiser to organise products efficiently, the space available on pallets and in transport vehicles is better optimised, thus reducing transport and storage costs.
• Monitoring and traceability: some automatic palletisers are equipped with integrated monitoring and traceability systems, allowing detailed information such as the number of palletised products, any errors or anomalies to be recorded. This further improves operational efficiency.

Types of goods that can be palletised

Automatic machinery of this type can be used to palletise a wide range of goods and products in different industries, depending on the specific needs of the sector and the application required. Goods commonly palletised with these machines include:

• Boxes, crates, cartons and packages of different formats and sizes;
• Plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans, containers and other rigid packaging;
• Sacks or bags containing unpacked products such as foodstuffs, fertilisers, manure or granular materials;
• Products packaged in flexible packaging such as films, pouches, bags or vacuum-packed bags;
• Beverage cans, tin food containers or other products packaged in metal containers;
• Pharmaceutical products such as blisters, bottles or medicine boxes. The use of a palletiser ensures precision and accuracy of positioning, which is particularly important for the safety and integrity of products;
• Construction materials, such as bricks, concrete blocks, cement bags or other building supplies.

LCS Group and Palletising Systems

For over 30 years, LCS Group has been offering solutions for intralogistics and automation. It develops automated palletising systems, pallet transport and customised internal handling solutions that guarantee efficient operation and constant, real-time control of all goods movements.

We take care of automation and software development, integrating the best mechanical component.

We will help you implement the best solution for your palletisation: contact us for more information.