Off-the-shelf material handling automation delivers full price transparency and same-day deployments while boosting throughput and productivity.

Learning objectives:

• Compare and contrast traditional robotic automation and “turnkey” systems with complete, off-the-shelf robotic systems in terms of complexity, cost transparency, lead time and ease of deployment and redeployment.
• Explain the benefits that off-the-shelf automation provides to manufacturers, such as fully transparent pricing, immediate availability, same-day installation and the ability to manage workpiece changes in-house without external programming expertise.
• Identify how these solutions address challenges faced by manufacturers, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses, relating to labor shortages, lack of in-house automation skills and the need for flexibility in tasks like palletizing.

Off-the-shelf insights

• Off-the-shelf robotic systems offer significant advantages like price transparency, same-day installation and easy in-house redeployment, providing a more accessible and lower-risk alternative for manufacturers.
• These solutions are faster compared to traditional automation and partially pre-engineered “turnkey” solutions, which may entail hidden costs and require ongoing customization and programming.

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When Schrobbelèr B.V., producer of an iconic Dutch herbal liquor, was ready to automate its palletizing tasks, the company needed an approach that could seamlessly integrate into existing operations. Like many companies in the beverage industry, Schrobbelèr had determined that manual palletizing posed ergonomic and productivity challenges.

“Our production faced challenges with repetitive tasks,” said Jan Eijsermans, commercial director at Schrobbelèr. “Palletizing six-bottle boxes, each weighing 24.25 pounds was physically demanding. We decided to automate this task to enhance efficiency and prevent potential physical complaints over time.”

However, for companies with limited in-house automation skills, like Schrobbelèr, traditional robot palletizing systems can be daunting. They are complex to program and use. And once deployed, they are not easy to redeploy on new products or palletizing formats without the burden of additional, ongoing integration costs.

Hidden costs, overt complexity

Robot arms are just one component in a complete automated palletizing solution, that will include — at a minimum — a robot arm, one or more grippers, a user interface and programming. To deploy a robot arm, companies need to hire an expert to scope, buy, integrate and program all the other components to create the required automated system. Weeks and months can be spent on this process, often at a cost that is multiple times the cost of the robot arm itself.

Moreover, when the robotic system is delivered, it can do only what it was initially programmed to do. So, when products change or a new size of box needs to be palletized, the integrator must revisit the facility to reconfigure and reprogram the system. All this means significant additional costs, including potential downtime for the manufacturer.

Because of traditional automation’s complexity and lack of cost transparency, many companies drop out at this first hurdle. These companies then must perform unergonomic material handling tasks like palletizing and machine tending manually — all the while facing the same labor shortage that’s impacting the global manufacturing sector.

What about turnkey solutions?

Making processes “turnkey” is an option, but turnkey solutions are not always quite as turnkey as the phrase implies.

These systems are engineered and branded for specific automation applications such as palletizing or machine tending. Typically, turnkey solutions include all the components required for those applications, albeit in some cases the components come as options at an additional cost. In many cases, a specific robot arm must be used, which limits the manufacturer’s choice.

But the heart of the issue with turnkey solutions is that only part of the system has been pre-engineered. The solution still must be customized, programmed, integrated and deployed onsite. Moreover, future workpiece changes still require an integrator to return and redeploy the system at additional cost. Despite the implication that turnkey means an immediately available product, these partially engineered systems can have lead times almost as long as a fully custom solution.

Consequently, many companies, particularly those that lack in-house robotics experience, fall at this second turnkey hurdle as the complexity of deployment and the fluctuating, unpredictable nature of the ongoing costs involved make automating palletizing seem like a risky prospect.

Off-the-shelf automation and straight to work

It’s not like the robotics industry is unaware of what manufacturers need and what many integrators and machine builders would love to be able to offer: complete, off-the-shelf robotic systems that are pre-built, pre-configured and can be put to work immediately.

This is the direction the automation sector is headed in — and some off-the-shelf solutions are already on the market, such as the one chosen by Schrobbelèr.

“Installation was seamless — it only took us a day and we were able to implement it during active production without any disruptions,” said commercial director Eijsermans.

“Right from the start, everything was clear and straightforward. We got detailed technical specs for the entire solution, a full list of components and a simple, no-surprises price. It made the whole process easy to understand and gave us confidence in what we were getting.”

Despite having to handle product variations in terms of bottle sizes, the automation is now managed in-house, due to the ease with which the system can be deployed.

“I manage the palletizing system entirely on my own. I don’t have a technical background, so having an easy-to-use solution was crucial for us,” said Eijsermans.

It’s a similar story at WEMAS Absperrtechnik GmbH, a German provider of road safety products that deployed an off-the-shelf palletizer to unload pallets of heavy batteries — a labor-intensive task that usually required two operators and typically took two full days to manually empty a single container.

“There are plenty of options in the market that claim to offer easy palletizing solutions,” said Julian Döring, head of materials management at WEMAS. “But once you see a demo, it often becomes clear they don’t live up to the promise. This off-the-shelf palletizer was a completely different experience. What was demonstrated to us is exactly what we got — a smooth, same-day installation that delivered on our standards and expectations.”

Because off-the-shelf solutions are a complete product, all the associated costs are clearly defined. This also means that pricing is fully transparent. These emerging off-the-shelf systems are designed to help companies meet the needs of a specific defined application such as machine tending, palletizing or packaging — and quickly. Deployment times are measured in hours, not days and with clarity around pricing, companies of all sizes — and levels of robotics expertise — can invest in automation with confidence.

Palletizing is the leading application for this new generation of truly no-nonsense, easy to deploy automation. End users get an immediate, low-risk solution for their automation needs across a wide range of material handling tasks from palletizing to the “pick and place” elements of machine tending applications. More applications are expected soon, driven by innovation among machine builders and integrators. The rise of these new solutions will give manufacturing customers — and machine builders and integrators — powerful new tools to drive individual success as well as industry growth.

Truly off-the-shelf automation means that delivery and setup should be within a day, not days, weeks or months as is so often the case, even with turnkey solutions. And when businesses need to redeploy or adjust the cell, they can make the necessary adjustments quickly with existing staff — no costly and time-consuming programming or integrator visits required.