Robotic Palletiser Pushes Morrisons Safety Envelope

Introduction

Morrisons is one of the leading supermarkets in the UK. Furthermore, they are the only supermarket to source, make, handle and pack their own produce. The company were looking to automate palletising in their end-of-line processes, primarily to improve safety in the workplace. “[the robot palletiser is] a workhorse that does its job in the safest, most efficient way” Andy Day, Site Manager

The Story of Morrisons

Morrisons dates back to 1899 when it was merely a market stall. Fast forward to current day and Morrisons is a household name. With 18 manufacturing locations across the country supplying their supermarkets, the efficiency and safety of their many production lines was of paramount importance. Having already been impressed with our machines installed in other factories, Morrisons felt confident in choosing a Brillopak palletiser to address their challenges.

The Challenge

The primary reason for this investment at the Rushden site was to improve safety within the packhouse. Previously, workers manually stacked heavy potato crates onto ground-level pallets. This presented manual handling risks such as stooping and twisting to lift heavy crates and subsequently stacking them above shoulder height. Furthermore, Morrisons were keen to avoid other hazards such as ramps and fork lift trucks in their automated solution. Other issues included needing to reduce potential costs associated with the risk of workplace injury, improving efficiency and needing a machine which would fit in the small space available within the packhouse.

The Solution

The obvious fit was the Palletiser designed and manufactured by Brillopak. Unlike most conveyor palletising configurations that require ramps for hand trucks to manoeuvre filled pallets, Brillopak’s innovative machine enabled Morrisons Rushden to create stable stacks of heavy potato crates on pallets at ground-level. Working completely in sync with a dual crate stacker, which places one loaded crate on top of the other, the 30kg payload, four-axis palletising robot effortlessly grips, lifts, rotates and palletises a double crate stack in a single motion. Over 600 crates can be safely stacked and removed from both palletising cells every half an hour, ensuring a consistent pick, pack and palletising speed from the start of the case loading line to the end. To maintain the system’s compact footprint, Brillopak’s Palletiser instead features a ‘letterbox’ style opening at ground level. Empty wooden pallets are then posted through into position.  Each pallet sits on top of a metal transport plate for easier manoeuvrability. With the safety doors firmly closed, the robots commence stacking the pallets at speeds of 20 crates (10 cycles) per minute.

The Result

Operatives can move filled pallets out of the cell without needing to switch to a more heavy duty fork lift truck, “the result is minimal congestion and safer, clearer working zones at the final stage of our two automated robotic case loading lines,” adds Andy. For Andy and the Rushden team, it has proven to be reliable and robust. Furthermore, thanks to a simple safety lock out system, operatives are physically unable to enter the cell while the robot is in motion. Anthony Bayliss, engineering shift leader at Rushden explains: “Only when the pallet is full will the cell door slide open and the metal plate with the filled pallet is ejected. After the cell door has closed, palletising switches automatically to the second pallet that’s already in position. The ejected pallet is then mechanically lowered onto the floor to be removed by hand truck operatives.” A user-friendly design, underpinned by thorough operator training during commissioning, has resulted in staff feeling confident and happy operating the palletisers. “The entire line works efficiently and seamlessly, with minimal human intervention,” adds Andy.

The Bottom Line

“From the outset, the Brillopak team took the time to listen to our individual automation requirements and engineer an efficient case loading and palletising system that met our layout and performance needs and protected the safety and welfare of our warehouse operatives. Additionally, automating the line has resulted in us reducing our labour headcount by approximately 90% and consequently our over-reliance on agency staff that are less familiar with our production processes.” Andy Day, Site Manager If, like Morrisons’, you want to increase the safety of your packing processes, book an audit with us today and we can evaluate your current processes to find suitable solutions.