There are plenty of components to contemplate if you find yourself designing a palletizing cell. Even small selections that you simply make in the course of the design section of deployment can considerably have an effect on the efficiency of the robotic, together with the all-important cycle time.
Palletizing cell structure has a really clear impression on cycle time. Inserting the elements of your cell in even a barely completely different place can add or subtract seconds off the time to finish one palletizing cycle.
With the appropriate palletizing cell structure, you possibly can enhance house utilization in your cell, obtain sooner cycle instances, and improve your cell throughput.
This is how one can optimize your cell structure rapidly and simply.
How palletizing cell structure impacts cycle time
Palletizing cell structure is the association of components inside a robotic palletizing cell. This consists of components like placement of the robots, conveyor place and orientation, pallet dimension, and varied different components.
The structure can considerably have an effect on the cycle time and, thus, the efficiency of your total palletizing course of. For instance, a robotic that’s positioned farther from the conveyor would possibly take 2 seconds longer to select up a field than one that’s nearer. These 2 wasted seconds rapidly add up over the course of a piece shift – for a throughput of 12 pallets per hour, it may quantity to over 2 wasted hours per 24 hours.
When designing your cell, you additionally must make different selections. For instance, do you need to use centralized or decentralized palletizing? Centralized palletizing includes utilizing a single robotic cell to deal with all of your palletizing duties. Decentralized palletizing includes utilizing a unique robotic for every manufacturing line. Your selection will even have an effect on cycle instances.
There are numerous steps to design a robotic cell for palletizing. Optimizing the actions of your collaborative robotic is a strong solution to get outstanding positive aspects from seemingly minor adjustments.
7 concerns when designing a palletizing cell structure
Designing a palletizing cell will be very straightforward, particularly when you use a device like our Palletizing Configurator, which does plenty of the exhausting give you the results you want.
Listed here are 7 components that can have an effect on cycle time in your palletizing cell structure:
1. Positions of robotic and conveyor
The place of the robotic and conveyors might be a very powerful consideration in any cell structure.
It is best to place the conveyor in order that it could possibly ship the bins as near the robotic as doable. Typically, this implies orienting the conveyor so it reaches the pallet end-on and never horizontally.
2. Security tools or fencing
You might want to separate human staff from palletizing robots, even when utilizing collaborative robots.
Be sure that you permit sufficient house inside your security fencing or sensor zone in order that every thing can match, together with leaving house for individuals to enter to deal with the pallets.
3. Distances between cell components
The distances between cell components have a direct impression on the cycle time. Each pointless millimeter that the robotic strikes will add unproductive time to the duty.
Attempt to cut back distances as a lot as doable. Nonetheless, make sure that to go away sufficient free house that you do not improve the possibility of collisions.
4. Peak of conveyor
The peak of the conveyor, relative to the robotic and pallet, can have an enormous impact on the cycle time.
By putting the conveyor near the midpoint between the highest and backside of the loaded pallet, you may make the pace of every field placement extra constant. Packing containers within the middle of the pallet might be positioned sooner and people on the prime and backside might be barely slower.
5. X-Y distances
In addition to the peak, the horizontal (or X-Y) distances also can add or take away pointless cycle time.
Say that you simply add an additional labeling step to the palletizing activity. It’d really feel pure to position the labeling machine additional away from the conveyor to keep away from collisions. Nonetheless, this could add additional time to every field placement. As an alternative, it’s higher to reduce this distance.
6. Place of interlayer dispenser
In case you are utilizing interlayers between layers in your pallet, it is very important think about the position of the interlayer dispenser.
Typically, the most effective place for the dispenser is correct behind the decide location on the conveyor.
7. Robotic resolution used
Lastly, the particular robotic resolution that you simply use will strongly have an effect on the efficiency of the cell.
One issue to contemplate is how straightforward it’s so that you can edit the robotic applications. With an answer just like the Robotiq Palletizing Answer, you possibly can simply tweak this system when you discover an inefficiency within the cell structure. This lets you proceed to enhance this system and cycle time over time.
The important thing to an optimum structure: decrease actions
As you possibly can see from the listing above, lots of the concerns that have an effect on the cycle time of your palletizing robotic come down to at least one issue: distance.
By decreasing the distances between elements in your cell, you cut back pointless actions that the robotic has to take between palletizing steps. It is best to attempt to decrease actions whereas avoiding collisions between the weather of the cell.
The best rule is to have the decide level as shut as doable to the drop level.
By planning forward and utilizing instruments like our Palletizing Configurator, you possibly can make sure that the robotic strikes in probably the most environment friendly manner.
The place to get extra skilled recommendation on establishing your robotic
Do you want extra data on how you can arrange your robotic palletizing system?
You may get plenty of detailed recommendation in our free eLearning programs. The course on Lean Robotics for Palletizing is a superb place to begin. In addition to educating you the fundamentals of robotic palletizing, it introduces you to typical layouts and lots of helpful tips about how you can enhance effectivity in your palletizing course of.
What elements of your palletizing cell do you assume are least environment friendly? Inform us within the feedback beneath or be part of the dialogue on LinkedIn, Twitter, Fb, or the DoF skilled robotics neighborhood.