After years of hesitation, a well known chocolate producer in Quebec, Canada lastly took the leap and modernized their automated palletizing course of. What modified? The best timing, the suitable downside, and the suitable resolution. Their journey highlights key takeaways for meals producers contemplating upgrading their automation however not sure when or tips on how to begin.
The Problem: A Bottleneck in Manufacturing
This firm, with a number of places and over a thousand staff, had been increasing its retail choices. Extra merchandise meant extra demand—but additionally extra pressure on manufacturing.
Their largest difficulty? The second shift. Like many producers, they struggled to search out and retain employees, particularly for late-hour positions. On prime of that, their current industrial palletizer was unreliable, susceptible to breakdowns, and finally failed utterly final summer season. This left them with a transparent selection: both persist with an outdated, labor-intensive course of or put money into new automation to maintain up with demand.
The Turning Level: An Engineer Who Noticed the Large Image
Automation wasn’t a brand new concept for them. The engineering supervisor had been in discussions with Robotiq about palletizing options for a number of years whereas working for a distinct firm, however by no means had the suitable alternative. When he joined this chocolate maker, he instantly acknowledged that upgrading to a contemporary, robotic palletizer may resolve their labor points and enhance effectivity.
With an ROI in underneath 2 years and the pliability to increase, the choice grew to become a straightforward one.
Key Advantages Achieved
- Area Optimization: Ground house was tight, however the brand new palletizer’s superior software program allowed them to put in it near current buildings with out interfering with operations.
- Quick Set up: Inside someday, they had been working their first SKU. Inside two days, full integration was full.
- Ease of Use: The earlier system required a single professional to troubleshoot and preserve it. Now, even second-shift upkeep workers may function the gear with confidence.
- Scalability: With their first robotic palletizer up and working, they’re already planning for a second one.
What Different Meals Producers Can Be taught
- Don’t Look forward to a Breakdown to Automate. In case your gear is unreliable, don’t danger productiveness losses. The sooner you improve automation, the earlier you begin seeing returns.
- Assume Past Labor Shortages. Automation doesn’t simply resolve hiring challenges—it will possibly optimize house, velocity up manufacturing, and improve flexibility.
- Take into account Ease of Use. Trendy options are designed for easy operation. Your workforce doesn’t should be specialists in robotics to run and preserve them.
- ROI Can Be Sooner Than You Assume. A payback interval underneath 2 years is cheap, however in lots of instances, advantages begin showing instantly with elevated productiveness and workforce morale.
This chocolate maker is proof that automation doesn’t should be sophisticated or disruptive. When the suitable situations align, the transition will be clean—and the outcomes, game-changing.
In case you’re going through related challenges, now could be the suitable time to take that subsequent step.
