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Case Study

Single-Line Palletizer – Wrapped Product Palletizing

A compact, portable single-line palletizer designed to handle two product sizes and multiple SKUs and to manage the product's shrink-wrap variability.

Single-line palletizer wrapped product
Compact single-line palletizer cell (portable footprint)
Application
Wrapped Product Palletizing
Footprint Requirement
Under 12’ x 9’
Mobility
Possible to move with Forklift
Robot
FANUC R1000iA/80H

Single-Line Palletizer Overview

Motion Controls Robotics has built a variety of single-line palletizers over the years. Single-line palletizers are a preferred end-of-line solution for larger volumes of varied SKUs. The cell is compact and can be expanded to include another infeed line when needed.

Cases
Wrapped product
Rolls
Bags
Plastic
Cans
Video
Single-line palletizer in operation
Project Note
Shrink-wrap inconsistency was the key challenge. We minimized its impact by limiting interaction with problem areas and adding an operator offset control when needed.

Customer Challenges

  • Palletize two different product sizes and multiple SKUs.
  • Keep the robot system compact: under 12’ x 9’.
  • Make the cell portable so it can be moved by forklift to different end-of-line areas.
  • Handle variation caused by shrink packaging without losing reliability.
What mattered most
Small footprint + easy SKU changeovers + stable picking on imperfect shrink-wrap.
The goal was consistency on the floor. The operators shouldn’t fight the packaging to keep production moving.

Palletizing Process

Step-by-step flow from wrapping to finished pallet removal
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1) Infeed from wrapping area
Product exits the wrapping area onto an infeed conveyor.
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2) Bump turn alignment
A bump turn positions product so packs line up on the build station.
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3) Build station + registration
Once the build station has lined up 6 packs, a sensor triggers the registrator to position them against the guard on the pick table.
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4) Robot pick
The robot picks the product using a zoned vacuum gripper. Zoned control reduces sensitivity to inconsistent shrink-wrap by gripping where the package is most stable.
Engineering Insight
“This project presented some challenges due to the inconsistency of shrink packaging around the product. Our team minimized the effect of this inconsistency by limiting the interaction with the problem areas. Although, when it would come into play, a special user interface was developed to create an offset for picking packages.”
Robot pick area or vacuum EOAT close-up
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5) Stack pattern by product size
Based on selected product size, the robot stacks in the correct pattern.
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6) Pallet removal + continue
When the pallet is finished, the operator enters through an interlocked gate, removes the full pallet, and continues with an empty pallet.

Robot & End of Arm Tool for Palletizing

The product being picked and palletized was light enough for a FANUC R1000iA/80H robot. The end of arm tool uses zoned vacuum cups for picking. Because the pallet did not need to be transferred, the EOAT could have a compact, simple design.

Robot
R1000iA/80H
EOAT
Zoned vacuum
Benefit
Compact design
Design note
Keep the gripper simple and stable—reduce interaction with problem shrink areas.
If the pallet doesn’t transfer, you can simplify EOAT and keep cycle time consistent.

Safety Features

Each system is built with safety in mind, including safety fencing and cell entry gates with safety interlock switches. Where conveyor areas are open, light curtains can be added to detect entry into the robot area.

Safety fencing
Interlocked entry gate
Light curtains (as needed)
Operator-friendly safety
The goal is safe, repeatable access for pallet removal without slowing production.

HMI – Single-Line Palletizer

Operators can switch between product sizes using the HMI. The display shows error states and monitors cell entry.

Changeover
Switch product size
Visibility
Error states
Safety status
Cell entry monitoring
Want a compact palletizer for varied SKUs?
Tell us your product type, SKUs, and footprint limits and our team will recommend a layout that fits.

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