Reducing Footprint with innovative, precise and cost-effective collaborative solution
Jul 17, 2024 — As part of their ongoing efforts to improve production processes, Sano sought to optimize their palletizing operations. Traditionally, palletizing had been carried out by manual labor, but the company was increasingly aware of the limitations.Sano, founded in 1960, is a leading company in the manufacturing of various household and cleaning products with over 500 different products, including detergents, insecticides, laundry products, and cleaning solutions.
With a robust workforce of 1,700 dedicated employees, Sano remains committed to upholding its status as an industry leader, and consistently seeks out innovative approaches to augment operational efficiency and productivity.
As part of their ongoing efforts to improve production processes, Sano sought to optimize their palletizing operations. Traditionally, palletizing had been carried out by manual labor, but the company was increasingly aware of the limitations. The shortage of available workers, along with the continuous need for a non-stop production line, meant that automation was the logical step forward.
“Four years ago, we heard about collaborative applications, so we decided to explore their integration into our production lines” said Guy Sameach, Plant Engineer at Sano. “Especially for the tasks not requiring high-speed execution as palletizing, this solution seemed to be a perfect for automation with a collaborative solution” explained Guy.
The challenge for SANO was to find a solution that could work safely with workers while could minimize the footprint, as their factory already housed larger industrial robots that required dedicated fencing and safety systems and large space for it.
Before deciding for collaborative palletizing, the process was manually done.
“In the last years we are facing more and more problems to find operators. There is a lack of workforce that sometimes makes it impossible to cover the open positions we need. That was one the reason we also decided to install the palletizing stations” explains Guy.
As production demands increased, SANO struggled with the growing issue of space constraints in their factory. Palletizing products up to 2 meters high required an efficient solution that would optimize the use of their limited available space.
In their pursuit of the ideal palletizing solution, Sano evaluated different alternatives.
“We were positively impressed by the expertise OnRobot’s partner, ASSATEC, offered us” said Guy. “They perfectly understood our needs and they proposed us a simple solution, easy to integrate and fulfilling all our technical needs.”
ASSATEC's proposal was to install 2 palletizing stations formed by Collaborative Fanuc CRX mounted on an OnRobot Lift100 and equipped with a fully electrical 2FGP20 OnRobot gripper. “SANO needed a versatile gripper to palletize and place interlayers. The main challenge was to build 1.9 m. high pallets, but this was easily solved with OnRobot Lift100” explained Or Levy, ASSATEC Manager. The solution implemented worked smoothly, enabling easy pallet handling. With 11 different box types to be palletized, the 2FGP20 gripper from OnRobot proved to be a perfect solution. The 2FGP20's high total stroke (260 mm) allowed it to handle all box variations efficiently, making it a 100% electric, cost-effective choice.
Sano was particularly impressed with the small footprint of the solution. OnRobot Lift100 was efficient and compact with a quick integration process which further impressed Sano. “It took approximately 1 week to fully integrate the first palletizing solution into the line, and the second stations was even faster,” said Guy Sameach. The remarkable ROI of less than 1.5 years further solidified their decision.
