Custom palletizing robots:
throughput is set by the automation, not by the robot

4-axis robots are designed specifically for palletizing applications. They are models optimised to work at high speed, with repetitive movements and continuous cycles, delivering reliability and efficiency over the long term.

Their technical characteristics allow them to:

• Handle heavy loads.
• Reach palletizing heights of up to 2,700 mm, and higher on certain projects.
• Hold high throughput with excellent accuracy and repeatability.

That combination makes them the most efficient solution for end-of-process lines.

It depends on the product, the format and the automation around it, which is why the answer is given per project and not from a catalogue.

The rates we have achieved on installations already in production are in the table on this page: up to 25 boxes/min, up to 15 bags/min and up to 14 bales/min.

To estimate yours we need to know what output you require and what format you work with.

Weight is not a problem in robotic palletizing. The range of palletizing robots starts at 80 kg of payload and goes beyond 1,000 kg, always counting both the product to be palletized and the weight of the gripper.

In practice, a palletizing application is rarely solved below 140 kg: the gripper on its own already weighs in the order of 60 kg.

During the design phase, Rivas Robotics selects the most suitable robot based on several variables: total weight, reach, required speed, product type and the space available in the plant.

When the production rate is high, the robot can handle several products simultaneously in a single cycle. That strategy makes it possible to hit the cycle times the process requires. Bear in mind, though, that the more units handled per movement, the larger and heavier the gripper gets — which means a robot with a higher payload.

It depends on the level of automation, not on the robot.

Based on our own installations, there are three investment brackets, all of them turnkey: robot, gripper, pallet feed, safety, integration with your line and commissioning.

• €95,000 to €150,000 — palletizing one or two lines, with the pallet on the floor or with the robot loading the empty pallets itself, plus slip sheets. The solution for small and medium output.
• €150,000 to €250,000 — automatic pallet dispenser, slip sheets and several lines or formats in the same cell. The optimal solution, with the most added value.
• Over €250,000 — a complete end of line (stretch wrapper or bundler, weight checking and labelling, pallet evacuation) or high-payload robots for palletizing full layers.

All our robots are new.

To give you a firm figure we need three things: what product, how many lines and at what rate.

One of the key aspects of any palletizing project is the palletizing pattern — the way the product is laid out on the pallet.

Optimising cycle time depends to a large extent on getting the pattern right. A good design lets you:

• Cut out unnecessary movements.
• Improve pallet stability.
• Raise the overall productivity of the line.

A robot can handle anything from a single unit to a full layer in one movement, depending on the product, the format and the production targets.

Grippers are not off-the-shelf: they are designed around the specific products in your plant.

Most plants run several formats at once — boxes, bags or bales of different sizes and weights — and the gripper is sized for that range, not for a single product. In bag palletizing, for example, one gripper handles the 10, 25 and 50 kg formats.

Changing product family is a different matter: a gripper for boxes, a fork gripper for bags and one for shrink-wrapped packs are genuinely different tooling. That is why the first thing we need to know is what product you are going to palletize.

Where there are very different products in the same plant, we run a more detailed study to see what solution fits that specific project.

Very few. If it is palletized by hand today, it can be automated: boxes, bags, bales, trays, shrink-wrapped packs, bottles or jerrycans.

The clear exception is big bags: they are not palletized with a robot because they do not go on a pallet — they are bulk bags handled a different way.

The practical rule is simple: whatever is already being palletized by hand is a candidate for automation. Whatever is not palletized in the first place is not going to be palletized by a robot either.

Four things, and with those the scope of the project is already visible:

1. What product you are going to palletize. A rigid box is not the same as a bag or a bale.
2. How many production lines you have. One system can serve one, two or three.
3. Your throughput. How many boxes, bags or units per minute.
4. Layout. Not essential, but a plant layout showing where the palletizing robot has to go is a big help.

With those four answers we can tell you where the project stands. Without them, any figure you are quoted is not worth much.

For simple processes, at low speed and with light weights, yes. But palletizing usually calls for payload and throughput above what a cobot delivers, and there the limit is not the make of the robot: it is reach and payload.