Imagine having to load your products onto a truck one at a time by hand. Until the invention of palletizers, that was the reality for business owners, and it certainly was a bleak one. Loading products individually takes an excessive amount of time and cuts into a business’s bottom line.
Thanks to palletizers, loading products is far more efficient than it once was. In this guide, we’ll take an in-depth look at the history of palletizers and what’s in store for the future.
The Genesis of Palletizing
How did palletizing get its start? To discover the origins of palletizing, we’ll need to take a trip back in time to the early 20th century.
Early Manual Methods and Challenges
Centuries ago, businesses had few options available to them when it came to moving products. They typically stored and moved products in wooden crates or barrels. Both took up a lot of room and could be very heavy, limiting how much product businesses could move at once.
Introduction of Wood Pallets
The Clark Equipment Company patented the first forklift way back in 1920, but it wasn’t until several years later that the forklift’s real potential came to light. In 1924, Harold Hallowell submitted the first patent for a wooden pallet, calling it a “lift truck platform.”
Adoption of this new invention didn’t truly take off until World War II. When the war broke out, it quickly became clear that the military needed an efficient way to move supplies from point A to point B. The U.S. military rapidly worked the forklift into its logistics strategy, and standardized pallet sizes followed soon after.
Mechanization and Industrial Revolution
It didn’t take long for businesses to realize that manual palletizing wasn’t the most efficient use of time. Thanks to palletizing machines, the logistics industry was able to enjoy a rapid improvement in loading speed efficiency.
Development of Early Palletizing Machines
In 1948, a company then known as Lanson Corp designed the first mechanical palletizer, called a row-forming palletizer. To use it, workers would place objects into a row in a forming area. Then, these rows were moved to another area and positioned into layers. The process continued until there were enough layers to move onto a pallet.
The logistics industry saw a huge leap in the 1970s with the invention of automatic palletizers. These palletizers used a combination of industrial loading equipment and conveyor belts to move products into containers in preset patterns. Container layers were clamped into place and lifted onto the pallet, which then rotated to accommodate the next layer.
Adoption of Palletizing in Key Industries
As automated palletizing became more widespread, various industries adopted it as part of their logistics strategy.
The food industry was one of these. Thanks to mechanical palletizing, food producers could quickly ship products around the nation while keeping them fresh and preventing spoilage.
The medical industry also greatly benefited from palletization. It allowed the industry to rapidly ship medications, vaccines, and medical equipment to pharmacies and hospitals worldwide.
Other industries that employ palletizing include:
- Furniture
- Retail
- Automotive
- Aerospace
Technological Leap Forward
The history of palletizers isn’t finished yet. Proponents of palletizers thought this equipment couldn’t get any better — that is, until robotics burst onto the scene, forever changing the state of logistics.
Integration of Robotics and Automation
Starting in the 1980s, robotic palletizers came with a mechanical arm called an effector, similar to the articulated robot arms used in vehicle manufacturing. These end-of-arm tools could pick up items off an assembly line and place them onto pallets, just like a human could, but faster.
Advancements in Palletizer Design and Control Systems
Robotic palletizers were a game-changer for logistics. Production lines could program these palletizers to handle different types of packages and load them in unique ways without the need to purchase additional equipment to suit each configuration.
Modern Palletizing Landscape
While modern palletizers share some of the key features of their predecessors, they boast advanced features, such as metal detectors, checkweighers, and reject conveyors. Learn more about the most common types of palletizers used today.
Types of Modern Palletizers and Their Applications
There are two main types of palletizers: conventional and robotic. Conventional palletizers can be either floor-level or high-level; each is suited to different infeed levels. The main difference is that high-level palletizers can lower and raise stacks with each stack added, while floor-level palletizers cannot.
With both types, products move down an infeed conveyor to a turning device that rotates them into the right position before moving the items to a row-forming area.
Robotic palletizers, as we’ve already discussed, use a mechanical arm to move products into position. You can choose from gantry, SCARA, Cartesian, and articulated palletizers. Each type offers a different range of motion and flexibility.
Should you opt for a conventional or robotic palletizer? Robotic palletizers can process more items per minute than the conventional variety. However, conventional palletizers are more flexible because you can easily adjust stacking configurations without lowering throughput.
Key Industries Relying on Palletizing Solutions
When palletizers were introduced, the food, medical, and automotive industries adopted them readily, and those same industries rely on palletizers today. Other industries that benefit from palletizers include e-commerce, packaging, cosmetics, and consumer goods.
Palletizing and Industry 4.0
The history of palletizers is still far from complete. Here are a few technologies that can take your logistics efforts to the next level.
Impact of Digitalization and Data Analytics
When palletizers were in their infancy, it was rather difficult to tell if the equipment was operating as it should. Now, however, businesses can take advantage of digitization to track efficiency and metrics.
Modern palletizers come with built-in software that relays analytics to you in real time. You can view the palletizer’s speed, accuracy, and other key metrics from your phone no matter where you are.
Emerging Technologies and Their Potential
The future of palletizing has plenty to offer technology enthusiasts. One example is the cobot (collaborative robot) palletizer, a next-generation robotic palletizer that can stack up to 13 boxes per minute. Its user-friendly software allows operators to configure the palletizer without any programming knowledge, and it features an intuitive interface for easy training.
Modern palletizers can also be equipped with advanced vision systems, which allow robots to accurately identify and position products of any shape, size, or orientation. Such technology greatly reduces the margin of error and boosts your production line’s productivity.
Machine learning (ML) is yet another fascinating technology worth diving into. With ML, palletizers can “learn” and make decisions on the fly without intervention from a human operator.
You’ve probably heard of the Internet of Things (IoT), which allows you to wirelessly connect smart devices such as your thermostat, TV, and washing machine over the internet. You can take advantage of the IoT for your production line, too. With it, you can operate your palletizer remotely, perform routine inspections, automatically schedule maintenance, and more.
The Future of Palletizing
Where will palletizing go next? Here’s how modern palletizers can help you address sustainability concerns, labor shortages, and increasing cost pressures.
Sustainability and Environmental Considerations
These days, “sustainability” is much more than just a fancy buzzword. Sustainable business practices can help you slash costs, in turn boosting your bottom line. On top of that, today’s consumers prefer to buy from businesses that care about the environment.
Consider opting for plastic pallets over wooden ones. You may think that wood is better because it’s natural, but wood pallets have several downsides. They’re prone to breakage and decay, forcing you to spend more money on pallets. It can also take decades for a tree to grow back after harvesting it for pallets.
Plastic pallets, on the other hand, can last for many uses without needing replacement. They’re also often made from recycled materials and are recyclable at the end of their lifespans.
Cutting-edge palletizers also boast a small footprint and use less energy than previous models. They are also long-lasting, so you may not have to shell out for a replacement for 20 years or more.
Overcoming Labor Shortages and Cost Pressures
Labor shortages have hit many industries hard, and that includes the manufacturing and logistics industries. Thanks to robotic palletizers, though, you no longer have to worry about finding enough workers to run your production line. A single in-line palletizer can do the same job as human workers in a fraction of the time.
And because modern palletizers use less energy, as mentioned above, they help you keep your utility bills down. Additionally, because of their small footprint, you’ll need less space to run them.
In the Market for a Palletizer? Contact TDI Packsys
The history of palletizers is a fascinating one, and technological advancements promise to make palletizers even speedier and more accurate than ever before. If you’re ready to purchase a palletizer, TDI Packsys has you covered. We offer a variety of palletizers to suit production lines of all sizes.
To learn more about our palletizer models, call TDI Packsys at (877) 834-6750.
