Report for TWM by Gregory Sense, Marketing/Inside Sales Manager, Infinity Machine and Engineering Corp.
In the modern converting facility, palletisers are no longer a luxury – they have become as essential to production as an unwinder.
While palletisers have been ubiquitous among large and mid-size converters, increasing labour pressures have led to widespread adoptions across smaller independent converters as well.
While the need for cost efficient, reliable palletising is universal across converters, the challenges they face are often unique. Even individual mills within the same company can have wildly different facility limitations and barriers to efficiency.
With the tissue industry full of distinctive needs that often vary depending on the converter, mill, or even line, palletisation cannot be a one size fits all solution.
When Infinity Machine & Engineering Corp. began conceptualising its expansion into palletising solutions, the variance throughout the industry was at the forefront of the design process.
To best serve the industry, Infinity has developed a heavy duty, standard palletiser, as well as a flexible cobot palletiser.
Infinity’s standard palletiser was designed from the ground up to accommodate the needs of a variety of converters. Made up of modular sections that can be arranged into countless different layouts, Infinity palletisers can be optimised for everything from single product lines to large scale, multi-line operations.
The comprehensive range of palletiser sections offered by Infinity include: a pallet squaring unit, automatic slip sheet placement, pallet dispenser, and fully automatic, fully servo stretch wrapping.
These units can be set up in different layouts, ensuring Infinity palletisers adhere to desired production requirements within facility limitations.
Depending on the needs of the converter, Infinity palletisers can be equipped with multiple loading arms, sorting arms, and build stations. This enables some units to operate at speeds up to 60 packs a minute on the in-feed.
Infinity palletisers can further be refined to the needs of their customers as they can be equipped with both vacuum and servo gripper end effectors, giving them the versatility to stack cases as well as bundles for Display Ready Pallets.
While standard Infinity palletisers are great for converters that have high production volumes, require the fastest speeds possible, and need robust lifting capabilities, other converters need different features to maximise production.
Many smaller scale converters require palletising solutions that can be deployed quickly and integrated with existing equipment. Infinity’s cobot palletiser is the perfect fit for these converters.
The cobot palletiser has a compact footprint and can easily be manoeuvred via integrated casters or built-in forklift pockets. This simplifies its installation and enables dynamic repositioning of the cobot to different lines as production demands change.
This functionality is made possible because the machine doesn’t require any guarding or additional safety devices. Equipped with a sophisticated system of proximity sensors, Infinity cobot palletisers can detect if a person or object enters the palletising arm’s range of motion. If something is detected, the palletiser automatically slows to a crawl and if the cobot makes contact it immediately freezes in position.
Combine this comprehensive safety system with the cobot’s two standard build stations and operators can remove completed pallet stacks from the inactive build station while the machine is still in motion, allowing for optimal efficiency in the pallet building process.
Whether your production requires a robust machine that can handle the highest throughput possible, or a highly adaptable, space saving solution, Infinity has a palletiser that will seamlessly fit your operational requirements.
This article was written for TWM by Gregory Sense, Marketing/Inside Sales Manager, Infinity Machine and Engineering Corp.
