Control the Mix - Mixed-SKU Palletizing for Store-Ready Orders
Recipe-driven palletizing for cereal trays, multipacks, cases, and other mixed product loads
For manufacturers supplying grocery and club stores, pallets rarely ship as full loads of a single SKU. Store-ready orders often call for mixed-SKU palletizing across multipacks, mixed tray products, cases, and other packaged goods. Too often, that mix is still built through manual assembly.
The Challenge with Mixed-SKU Pallets
Mixed-SKU palletizing is often treated as a downstream task. Full pallets are broken down and rebuilt manually to match the orders. This process introduces extra handling, increases labor dependency, and creates opportunities for error.
In high-mix environments like cereal production, where multiple SKUs must be combined into store-ready pallets, relying on manual assembly slows production and makes consistency difficult to maintain.
A Controlled, Recipe-Driven Approach
This system eliminates manual assembly by building the order during palletizing. Products are introduced as trays or cases and made continuously available to the system, allowing it to control the mix.
Using recipe-driven logic, trays are released in sequence and delivered to the robot at the exact moment they are needed, ensuring each pallet is built accurately and consistently from start to finish.
How the System Builds the Order
Instead of relying on manual assembly, the system keeps multiple SKUs available, controls release by recipe, and builds the pallet in a continuous flow.
Keep Multiple Products Ready
Operators load trays or product units onto six dedicated lanes. That gives the system constant access to multiple SKUs instead of waiting on one product at a time.
In the cereal application, each tray carried grouped boxes, but the same concept can apply to other products with or without trays.
Release Product by Recipe
As the pallet is built, the system selects which lane to pull from based on the active pallet recipe. The sequence is controlled automatically rather than being left to manual assembly.
This helps maintain the required SKU mix and count while reducing the chance for handling mistakes.
Build the Order in One Flow
Released product moves to the robot, which picks in sequence and builds the pallet to match the order. The result is a repeatable mixed-SKU pallet built in continuous flow.
Finished pallets exit ready for final handling, without stopping to manually sort and rebuild the order later.
Why it matters: fewer touches, less dependence on manual assembly, and more control over how store-ready mixed pallets are built.
Designed for More Than One Product
While this system was developed for cereal products handled in trays, the approach applies broadly across industries.
Whether handling trays, cases, multipacks, or other packaged goods, the same concept enables controlled, mixed-SKU palletizing.
Control the Mix in Your Operation
Bring recipe-driven control into your palletizing process and eliminate the need for manual assembly. Start the conversation today.
