Optimize end-of-line

palletizing applications
with collaborative robots
Maximizing productivity and efficiency

Published April 2023

Content
Effortless palletizing with Universal Robots 04

The solution to solve your palletizing pain points is here 05

Stacking profits with collaborative automation 06

Proven palletizing excellence 07

Manual palletizing is wasting your resources 10

Palletizing factors for success 11

01 Selecting the right cobot 11
02 Building your palletizing solution 14
03 Layout 17
04 Pallet patterns 18
05 Safety 19

Common palletizing configurations 20

1. Vertical axis 20
2. Horizontal axis 21
3. Fixed height 21

Ready to talk palletizing? 22

Discover our robot family 23

About Universal Robots 24

3
Effortless palletizing
with Universal Robots
Universal Robots’ collaborative robots (cobots) are ideally
suited for palletizing applications due to their flexibility, ease
of use and other technical advantages.
This document explores some of the common palletizing challenges that cobots can solve for you. It also
goes through four success stories from our customers and highlights some important factors to keep in
mind when considering an automated solution in your production environment. Finally, we also elaborate
on possible end-of-line palletizing configurations, using additional axis, with the objective of extending the
working range of the cobot.

4
The solution to solve
your palletizing pain
points is here
Introducing collaborative automation in end-of-line tasks brings numerous benefits in comparison to
manual palletizing or other automated palletizing solutions.

Reduce injury risks and unexpected costs

Manual palletizing requires workers to constantly bend, squat, twist, and lift weights in awkward postures.
Over time, these ergonomically challenging tasks can cause repetitive strain injuries to employees,
triggering additional problems that affect your production, like attrition, occupational injuries, downtime
and reduced productivity.

In United States, overexertion and bodily reaction involving days

away from work constituted 21.7% of all workplace injuries in
2020, according to US Bureau of Labor Statistics.1

As an industry sector, manufacturing witnesses a statistically higher than average workplace injury rate
as well as a labor shortage in many regions of the world. Using cobots has proven to be the answer to
decrease injury risks, as they free employees to work on less hazardous tasks, and to the challenge of
hiring into the unattractive manual palletizing jobs.

Bring versatility in and grow your business

There are also many factors that favor a cobot installation versus other automated palletizing solutions,
like hard automation (using prismatic joint axis) and traditional robots. Hard automation solutions
(cartesian o gantry systems) are usually tailored to a specific family of products (with certain dimensions
and weight), making it difficult to:

• introduce new products into the line

• make layout changes
• or simply relocating the system can take a larger effort and longer time

Cobots, on the other hand, can be reconfigured and redeployed in a different layout, orientation, end-of-
arm tool, height, etc. Furthermore, cobots can run night and day, so you can increase productivity when
needed. This is particularly useful in the case of seasonal flux in demand.

1 Top Work-Related Injury Causes. Injury Facts, 2021. Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Data (bls.gov)
5
 Limited floor space or robotics expertise? No problem
Compared to traditional robots, Universal Robots (UR) delivers robotic arms with a very small footprint
that leads to smaller space required (up to 75% smaller robot base depending on robot size). This can
be useful when you need to populate a reduced area with more cobot arms to increase productivity and
overall efficiency. Traditional robots are bigger and a lot heavier, so layout changes are more cumbersome
and complex. Programming them usually requires a robotics expert and a lot more training compared to
Universal Robots’ technology.

UR focuses on ease-of-use and programming, making cobots easy to deploy

and troubleshoot, regardless of your company’s knowledge in automation.

Stacking profits with

collaborative automation
With labor shortages affecting virtually all manufacturing operations, cobots offer an affordable
way to tackle the problem. A McKinsey survey from 20211 found that 87% of global companies
are either currently or are imminently about to experience labor shortage. Adding cobots to your
team means you have the versatility to tackle potential current and future labor shortages.

Further, Universal Robots cobots can be easily deployed and redeployed on a wide range of
applications, bringing extra value to picking, packing and palletizing operations. They are
quicker to install, simpler to operate than traditional robots, and can be reprogrammed by a
member of your team – some end effectors even allow you to switch between tools multiple
times per day. This reduces downtime, contributes to ROI and eliminates the intimidating
programming costs associated with traditional palletizing solutions.

While industrial robots are larger and heavier, cobots being lighter and smaller require a less
robust and lighter lifting column that represents savings in the overall initial capital expenditure,
showing faster Return on Investment (ROI), that typically go from 6 to 12 months.

Power consumption is becoming more and more important. A UR5e cobot is comparable to the
consumption of a gaming console, approximately 200W only. Another example with a UR10e
that consumes 350W while some traditional robots can go over 3000W.

UR cobots are available through Universal Robots’ Finance and Leasing programs 2, which
provides additional flexibility for first-time users and reduces some financial risks associated
with an automated installation at your factory.

1
mckinsey.com/featured-insights/coronavirus-leading-through-the-crisis/charting-the-path-to-the-next-normal/mind-the-skills-gap
2
universal-robots.com/products/collaborative-robot-rental/
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Proven
palletizing
excellence
UR cobots make palletizing automation
accessible to companies of all sizes, from
global brands to small, family-owned
manufacturers and even contract packaging
businesses. In the decade plus since our
cobots were first deployed on palletizing
applications, our technology has provided
manufacturers with tangible results and, along
the way, UR cobots have gained a reputation
for high quality performance and reliability.

7
Collaborative robots are installed in many different production environments across different
industries worldwide. Regarding palletizing applications, and particularly end-of-line tasks,
cobots are widely used in the food and beverage, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries.
Here are some cases where UR cobots are making a difference in performance and
employee safety.

At L’Oréal India’s Pune plant, for example, manual end-of-the-line

operations involved operators lifting approximately 8,500 kg of
product per 8-hour shift. Concerned about the ergonomic risk,
L’Oréal India deployed two UR10s on palletizing tasks, enabling
the cosmetics giant to improve worker health and safety and
improving overall equipment effectiveness in the plant by 5%,
thanks to the time saved in pallet replacement.

Watch the full

story here

Collaborative robots have helped eliminate the ergonomic risk completely. They
are user-friendly, maintenance-free and extremely efficient. We are really happy to have
Universal Robots’ cobots on our line.
Ranjit Ekde, Head of Manufacturing Supply Chain, L’Oréal India Private Limited

Sanofi, one of the world’s leading healthcare and

pharmaceutical companies, has successfully installed seven
UR10 collaborative robots at its Tours site in France. Thanks to
the installation of the UR cobots, Sanofi increased its production
and reduced the musculoskeletal disorders of its operators who
started focusing on higher value-added tasks. Sanofi was able
to reduce working time on the palletizing tasks by 10% daily, and
calculated a return on investment of 24 months.

Watch the full

story here

The advantages of Universal Robots are their reliability and simplicity of

programming as well as easy access to a wide range of accessories around the cobot
Gille Marsal, Site Manager at Sanofi

8
 See more case stories at universal-robots.com/case-stories

Unilever’s Katowice, Poland facility, which specializes in

tea packing processes, deployed six UR10 robots to handle
palletizing tasks. Prior to the implementation, operators spent
around 70% of their time packaging and 30% palletizing. With
cobots palletizing around 1,100 boxes during an eight-hour
shift, throughput and productivity at the facility improved and
operators are now free to focus on more ergonomic tasks.

Watch the full

story here

Before automation, employees had to perform monotonous tasks involving bending

over to place boxes on lower layers of the pallet. This strenuous activity was totally
eliminated by UR robots.
Dariusz Ratajczak, Automation Senior Specialist, Unilever

RNB Cosméticos, a Spanish cosmetics company, has integrated

six UR10 robot arms into its packing plant to perform end-of-
line palletizing tasks. They needed a flexible solution capable of
complying with its six-packages-per-minute production cycles
and handling over 350 different items. As cobots arrived, they
were viewed with suspicion by workers fearing they might take
away jobs. However, the integration of the UR cobots has not
only consolidated the existing staff, freeing them from repetitive
and non-ergonomic tasks that involved carrying 7 kg packages,
but has led to new staff being hired as a result of the increase in
production.
Watch the full
story here

We are not hiring expert staff to handle a high-tech robot. We are turning our staff
into experts with their skills level on the increase
Aurelio Tornero, General Industrial Manager, RNB Cosméticos

9
 Manual palletizing is
wasting your ressources
Your business resources are limited, and manual palletizing is constantly making you lose:

An inconsistent stream of boxes means the person performing the task spends a lot
of time waiting. The breaks, holidays, and absenteeism due to illness or injury directly
Time

impact productivity, delivery times, and bottom lines. The pressure increases as the
customer demand continues to shorten production cycles and expectations for fast
delivery continue to grow.

Running a business today can be a constant balancing act between taking advantage
Money

of opportunities when they arise, keeping your customers satisfied, and maintaining a
happy workforce. Whenever palletizing issues stop you from scaling production, they
limit your profits and growth.
Your workers’

People will always have a role in industrial operations, but that doesn’t mean they have
to work like robots. Dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs including manual palletizing can hurt
potential

their bodies and crush their spirits while they could really contribute and add value in
other roles, at the center of production. Giving people the opportunity to complete more
interesting tasks is likely to benefit both you and your employees.

A study conducted by McKinsey found that fulfilled workers are six

times more likely to want to stay in their role, four times healthier, and 1.5
times more likely to want to go the extra mile for their employer. And for
employers, this will minimize the costly task of recruitment.1

The list of challenges around manual palletizing is certainly long, but sometimes one pain point is enough
to motivate a business to automate the palletizing process with a cobot.

1
www.mckinsey.com/mhi/focus-areas/brain-health/employee-mental-health-and-well-being

10
Palletizing factors
for success

01 Selecting the
right cobot
There are two important factors to keep in mind when selecting the right cobot: handling capacity and
arm reach. When considering handling capacity, one must think about the weight of the end-of-arm tool
(whether pneumatic or mechanical) in addition to the weight of the parts being handled by the robot. Both
masses in combination, should be the factor for choosing the right cobot for your application.

The arm reach corresponds to how far you can extend the arm to pick-up and drop parts. Sometimes,
looking at this measurement in 2D is not enough to guarantee the cobot will perfectly fit your facility. Read
more about how you can bring your palletizing cobot cell into a virtual environment (3D) on page 17.
When it comes to end-of-line palletizing applications, the most suitable cobots are undoubtedly the ones
with longer reach and higher payload. The UR10e is widely used in palletizing applications. More recently,
UR has added the UR20 cobot to the robot family – the perfect choice for a palletizing application.

1 UR20
Payload: 20 kg / 44.1 lbs
Reach: 1750 mm / 68.9 in
Footprint: Ø245 mm

2 UR10e
Payload: 12.5 kg / 27.55 lbs
Reach: 1300 mm / 51.2 in
Footprint: Ø190 mm

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 1750 mm reach
to handle longer tasks, UR20
supports all EUR-pallets and
US standard pallet sizes
up to 96’’. UR20 can palletize
boxes up to 2.5 m of height.

Introducing
12 boxes
per minute
performing cycle time of
up to 12 boxes per minute.
±120˚/s
base speed
for faster palletizing
applications.

Performance
Universal Robots’ new cobot handles more tasks, fits more applications, and assists in more environments
than ever before. The UR20 is the first in our next generation of industrial cobots designed to take
performance to new heights, while embracing the UR hallmarks of versatility, usability, and small
footprints.

12
 ±360˚
work range
giving more flexibility
of installing the robot
anywhere and placing
pallets where required.

the UR20

20 kg payload
allows heavier
workpiece handling.

The UR20 is the perfect choice

for palletizing.
See our entire cobot range and its technical specifications on page 23

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 02 Building your
palletizing solution
It is essential to consider which path you should resources to assess your needs and support you in
every step – from initial project idea to loading the
take when building the palletizing solution for
your end-of-line work cell to ensure a smooth first pallet.
deployment, continuous production run, and fast When building your palletizing solution, you have a
ROI. number of possibilities at your disposal. The first
Universal Robots has the expert professionals and step is to talk to an expert that can advise you on
the optimal path for you, based on your project,
specific needs, timeline, and in-house resources.
Following this preliminary assessment, two general
routes areusually suggested.

Turnkey solution
The turnkey solution path is ideal if you want a plug-
and-play solution with low risk, predictable costs,
short delivery time, and on-site installation.

Following this path means that first, we’ll put you

in touch with a solution partner who can walk you
through the proposal stages with a plant visit and
demo. Some can provide a digital twin simulation
too.

The partner also talks you through how you

prepare for your end-of-line palletizing cobot cell,
exactly how much space it will take up, and the
performance you can expect. Following this path
means deployment is easy and effective, helping
you to reduce complexity and save time and
resources.

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Do It Yourself (DIY) path
If you have adequate in-house expertise, you can choose a more independent route to build your
palletizing solution. Support will still be available, but ultimately you take ownership of the project.

The DIY path entails the following steps:

Procure your cobot from one of our reseller partners

There are Universal Robots reseller partners spread all over the world, ready to answer your
questions and get you the right cobot for your palletizing solution.

Select the right product(s) for your palletizing application in

the UR+ platform
Choosing the right end-of-arm tools and accessories required for your palletizing application is
crucial for the success of your project. Browsing through the UR+ showroom, you can find the
palletizing elements you need to create your own application, from individual components to
Application Kits. For your convenience, we’ll recommend the nearest partner to you.

Deploy your palletizing solution

Once the cobot and all components arrive at your location, it is time to get your end-of-line
palletizing cell up and running. Before getting your hands on it, we recommend you sign up for the
UR Academy and go through the free e-Learning modules. They will provide you with the skills to
deploy, program, and set up your cobot for optimal performance.

15
 Here are some elements specifically
designed for palletizing cobot cells:

Solutions
1 2 1 ROBOTIQ Palletizing App Kit - AX Series
Open the box, and the hardware and software is
already connected and ready to install.

2 Kameleon Palletizing is a complete palletizing

solution with a super quick ROI (Return on
investment).

3 The Cobot Lift increases the payload of your

UR10 from 10 to 45 kg. It is available as a mobile
Application Kits and a stationary model.

3 4 5 4 Advanced Palletizing Software by

Rocketfarm is a flexible, customizable and quick
to install palletizing software which includes an
upfront simulation of your project.

5 Dahl Palletizing Kit - The compact palletizing

solution with mobile frame and two pallet
locations.

Components 6 The OnRobot 2FGP20 electric gripper

offers a wide stroke and customizable arms to
6 7 8 easily handle heavy or open boxes, shelf-ready
products, and other containers.

7 The FXCB robot set is ideal for handling

workpieces in the field of intralogistics using
pneumatic vacuum generation.

8 Coval’s CVGC carbon vacuum grippers

9 10 correspond perfectly to the weight constraints,
flexibility and safety of collaborative robot
applications for handling of cardboard boxes,
plastic or metal parts.

9 ELEVATE is an easy-to-use electric lifting

column that extends the range of your cobot,
where it is especially relevant.

See more at UR+ products at 10 The FQE is a flexible area gripper for handling
universal-robots.com/plus/products/ products regardless of size and geometry.

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03 Layout

Mounting all related equipment is as important as equipment selection, hence it is recommendable to use
CAD systems, either in 2D or 3D to accurately place the robot and peripheral equipment to avoid problems
with the robot reaching all positions within the pallet and conveyor belt. Often, we have seen layout
changes during installation and commissioning, causing delays and unwanted additional costs. The most
efficient approach to this task, is to perform a 3D simulation that will help you reduce risk and generate an
accurate layout. At the same time, you will be able to efficiently calculate throughput and cycle times or
generate new ideas to accommodate production.

Avoid costly mistakes, a 3D simulation is a digital twin of your production that can help you plan, predict

performance and help engineers take decisions ahead of time. Some of our partners have simulation
software that can create a digital twin of your proposed, end-of-line palletizing cobot cell so you can see it
in an accurate approximation of real-life (3D). That way you can see the palletizing cobot in action. Other
partners have cobot cell demo units - so they can bring one to your shop floor for demo.

An advantage of using cobots in palletizing, is that many times our customers need to add a robot to their
existing production line, this means space is always a limiting factor to bring automation making it difficult
to install a traditional robot that requires more than double the space.

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 04 Pallet
patterns
Efficient palletizing is of course related to the size of your boxes and allowed heights (depending on
regulations of your regions), so you want to maximize the space based on the pattern, but
also this can bring stability to the pallet when forklifts are maneuvering the load in facilities and
avoid accidents.

For UR cobots, programming these patterns is an intuitive, fast task, but we also have partners in our UR+
ecosystem that provide you with even more advanced software that help you solving all kind of challenges
based on parametric offline programming.

UR20
Reach from robot base:
1750 mm (68,9 in)

Overall
pallet height:
2500 mm (98,43 in)
UR10e
UR20
20 kg
Overall pallet height payload
can vary depending
Reach from robot base:
on the overall setup. 1300 mm (7,48 in)

Overall
pallet height:
1800 mm (70,8 in)
UR10e
12,5 kg
payload Overall pallet height
can vary depending
on the overall setup.

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05 Safety

Safety is one of the pioneering features of unwanted consequences during production and
collaborative robotics thanks to its design always keep your staff safe.
and built-in configurable safety functions.
UR cobots are certified by TÜV NORD for Our users can meet demanding safety standards,
ISO 10218-1 and safety functions are rated as but you should always refer to the industry safety
Cat.3 PL d according to ISO 13849-1. However, regulations in your country or region. Different
it is crucial to perform a risk assessment to industries will have specific regulations and legal
ensure everything in the production cell is safe implications governing work hazards and risks.
for people and other machinery elements around Reach out for expert help either to Universal
the robot. Robots or a partner.

A thorough risk assessment will identify potential

hazards, classify them (evaluate the risk) and
explain how to mitigate them, in order to avoid

19
 Common palletizing
configurations
There are numerous ways to set up your palletizing application, depending on the type of product being
handled and the throughput of your palletizing operations. There is peripheral equipment that integrated
to a UR cobot, can make the overall solution more efficient and effective. Some of these are external axis
that extend the working range of the robot in either a vertical or horizontal axis which we will explore here
below.

1. Vertical axis
In this configuration you will basically have the robot
moving up and down making it accessible for the
robot to reach higher avoiding other important motion
constraints of the arm. In other words, you can stack-
up more boxes than having the robot just mounted at
a fixed position.

Vertical axis setups open up for a wide range of

palletizing use cases that you just wouldn’t be able to
perform with a fixed robot arm.

20
 2. Horizontal axis
On the other hand, when you need the robot
to work with multiple in-feed conveyors, a
horizontal axis can move the robot to reach a
longer area. This solution is typically seen at
larger facilities with a high mix of products
and relatively low throughput. You can
find manufacturers that deliver modular
solutions in basically every required
length.

3. Fixed height
As the name alludes to, robot is mounted on a fixed riser (or pedestal) that maintains the robot static at
the same height, which reduces complexity of the overall system and is of course, more cost effective
than the other alternatives. Programming is easier as there are no additional motors involved in the robot
configuration. As a rule of thumb, If the robot envelope covers the required volume and is enough to reach
all eight corners of your pallet configuration (four corners at the pallet level, plus the four corners at the
highest point of the overall stack), then you are good to go. Remember that a simulation will always help
you define these types of design questions, so reach out to an expert to help you with your equipment
selection.

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 Ready to talk
palletizing?
We are here to help. At Universal Robots we have have equipment available for test, develop proof of
a team of application experts in every region of concepts, develop feasibility studies, simulate robot
the world, ready to provide help and guidance solutions and guide our customers with high-level
with important engineering questions. Also, since application questions, and are ready to support you.
October 2022, we set up a Global “Center of
Excellence” for palletizing applications, where we

Want to learn more about automating palletizing tasks?

Keep exploring the benefits of automated palletizing and learn how businesses from different
industries have been using collaborative robots to tackle their palletizing tasks.
Visit: universal-robots.com/applications/palletizing/

Take the next step to automate your palletizing tasks

Whether you have some technical questions about using one of our cobots in a palletizing
application or you are ready to get your own cobot palletizing cell going, there’s someone ready
to help you. Talk to one of Universal Robots’ experts today.
Visit: universal-robots.com/get-started/

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Discover our robot family

UR3e UR5e UR16e UR10e UR20

Reach 500 mm / 850 mm / 900 mm / 1300 mm / 1750 mm /
19.7 in 33.5 in 35.4 in 51.2 in 68.9 in

Payload 3 kg / 5 kg / 16 kg / 12.5 kg / 20 kg /
6.6 lbs 11 lbs 35.3 lbs 27.55 lbs 44.1 lbs

Footprint Ø 128 mm Ø 149 mm Ø 190 mm Ø 190 mm Ø 245 mm

Weight 11.2 kg / 20.6 kg / 33.1 kg / 33.5 kg / 64 kg /

24.7 lbs 45.4 lbs 73 lbs 73.9 lbs 141.1 lbs

Compare all robots at www.universal-robots.com/media/1827367/04_2023_collective_data-sheet.pdf

Scan the QR-code

and read more or visit:
universal-robots.com/products/

23
About Universal Robots
Universal Robots aims to empower change in the way work is done using its leading-edge robotics
platform. Since introducing the world’s first commercially viable collaborative robot (cobot) in 2008, UR
has developed a product portfolio including the UR3e, UR5e, UR10e, UR16e and UR20, reflecting a range of
reaches and payloads.

The company, which is part of Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has offices in the
USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Türkiye, China, India, Japan, South Korea,
Singapore and Mexico.

For additional information about automation using cobots from Universal Robots,
please visit: universal-robots.com