Today’s manufacturers have started looking downstream more and more for automation opportunities. And when they do, many are choosing robotic systems.

Designing a robotic palletizing cell has become more complicated as companies invest more in environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging. To reduce dunnage, standard corrugated cardboard cartons are being replaced. Add increased demand from club stores and marketing changes to the mix, and manufacturers need to account for an even wider range of packaging sizes, shapes and materials.

Choosing the correct end-of-arm tooling helps to ensure that a new robotic palletizing or depalletizing system can effectively handle a company’s full range of packaging types. Several tooling types are available for palletizing, including: vacuum, side clamp, fork style and layer handling. End-of-arm tooling is a highly project-specific component that represents a large percentage of the overall cost of the system, so selecting the appropriate type is critical. 

Discover the five questions to ask before specifying robotics tooling and learn the specifications of each tooling type to design a system that will maximize performance, speed, uptime and return on investment in our white paper.