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Palletising kit

Palletising with the WS-20 cobot

A ready-made end-of-line cell - cobot, gripper, plugin and deployment.

The kit takes over stacking the product on the pallet. The WS-20 cobot picks an item from a repeatable location and places it according to the layer pattern, while the operator works with product and pallet parameters instead of the robot program.

Send product data for assessment See the kit scope
  • • Gripper selected for the product
  • • Palletising plugin
  • • Commissioning and training

Cobot

WS-20

Payload

20 kg

Arm reach

1854 mm

Repeatability

±0.1 mm

Application

When the product is repeatable and the pallet is always the same

Palletising with a cobot pays off where stacking is monotonous and predictable. The fewer exceptions in the product, packaging and layer pattern, the simpler and cheaper the cell.

When the kit makes sense

  • ✓Repeatable packaging of known mass and dimensions: cartons, shrink packs, crates, containers
  • ✓An end of line where the product arrives at a predictable place and pace
  • ✓Shifts where stacking the pallet takes up a large part of the operator’s time
  • ✓Plants with no room for a full palletising line

When to choose a different solution

  • -Products without a stable gripping surface, until they pass a gripper test
  • -A very high end-of-line rate - a conventional palletising robot is often the more sensible choice there
  • -Masses above the WS-20 payload, including the gripper mass
  • -Cells without room for the pallet and safe operator access
The key limitation

The 20 kg payload applies to the arm, not to the product alone. The gripper mass is subtracted from the payload, so with heavier items we first check the sum: product plus end-of-arm tooling. Soft packaging, such as bags, requires a gripping test on a sample.

Delivery scope

The kit is a cell, not just the arm

The cobot alone will not stack a pallet. Whether the cell starts running is decided by the gripper, the layer pattern, the pick location and the way the operator works. That is why the kit also covers selection and commissioning, not only delivery of hardware.

In the palletising kit

  • ✓WS-20 cobot based on the Fairino FR20 arm, with power supply and control box
  • ✓Gripper selected for the product, with end-of-arm tooling
  • ✓Welderstal palletising plugin - pallet pattern, layers and process points without writing a program from scratch
  • ✓Cell concept: pick location, pallet zone, operator work and how the cell connects to the line
  • ✓Configuration, trials with your product, commissioning and operator training

Selected for the cell

  • -The extent of guarding, gates and interlocks follows from the risk assessment of the specific cell
  • -Infeed conveyor and line signals - depending on what already runs at the end of your line
  • -Cobot base: column, pedestal or table, depending on the pick height and stack height
  • -Product rotation, layer sheets and a stretch wrapper, if the process requires them
Real deployment

What such a cell looks like on the shop floor

The photos come from one deployment. They show the layout that recurs most often: a column-mounted cobot within reach of the pallet, product infeed by conveyor, an operator panel next to the cell and guarding with a service gate. Your cell may look different - the layout follows from the space at the line.

Work cycle

Four steps that repeat throughout the shift

A cell is only as good as its weakest step. Most often the bottleneck is not the cobot itself, but the way the product is fed in or the full pallet is removed.

  1. 01

    Pick

    The product arrives at a repeatable location - on a conveyor, a table or in a set-down nest.

  2. 02

    Grip

    The gripper selected for the packaging picks up the item without damaging it and without losing position.

  3. 03

    Pallet pattern

    The palletising plugin holds the layer pattern, the number of layers and the placement points.

  4. 04

    Removal

    The full pallet is removed by hand or by forklift; the cell signals its operating status.

The role of the palletising plugin

The plugin holds the layer pattern, the number of layers and the process points as parameters. Changing the format therefore does not mean writing a program from scratch. The range of changes handed over to the operator is agreed when the cell is configured. You will find more about the technology itself on the palletising page and in the description of Welderstal plugins.

Other kits

Palletising is one of the tasks

The other kits are for welding. We build them on a WS cobot selected for the process, and they differ in their external axis and joining process.

Components of a cobot welding kit: arm, smart tool, MIG/MAG torch and base
Cell base

Basic kit

Repeatable parts that fit within the arm’s working envelope.

See the kit
Welding kit with a 2 m linear track
Linear axis

WS kit + linear track

Long structures or several workstations in one line.

See the kit
Welding kit with a single-axis positioner
Rotary axis

WS kit + positioner

Circumferential welds on pipes, sleeves and shafts.

See the kit
WLS-2000 laser unit for a robotic cell
Laser process

Laser welding kit

A process qualified for laser: welding, cleaning or cutting.

See the kit
Back to all kits
FAQ

Questions about the palletising kit

Why do we build the palletising kit on the WS-20?
Because it combines a 20 kg payload with a reach of 1854 mm, the largest in the family. This allows layers to be stacked on a tall stack without moving the pallet. For lighter products and a lower stack a smaller model will do - we then propose it after assessing the process.
Can any WS cobot be chosen for the palletising kit as well?
No. Free choice of the arm applies to the welding kits. Palletising is a different task: what counts is the payload including the gripper mass and the stack height, which is why we build the kit on the WS-20.
Does the cell have to be guarded?
That is the outcome of a risk assessment, not a fixed feature of the kit. A cobot can work without full guarding, but the product mass, rate, gripper and movement of people around the cell can make covers, gates or scanners necessary. The photos above show a deployment with mesh guarding and a gate.
Can the operator change the pallet format on their own?
That is the purpose of the palletising plugin - the operator works with product, layer and point parameters instead of code. The range of changes available to the operator is agreed when the specific cell is configured.
Process qualification

Describe the product and we will check whether a cobot can stack it

Five pieces of information are enough to start talking about a specific cell. We will arrange photos and a video of the line by email or phone.

  1. 01

    Product, packaging and item mass

  2. 02

    Item dimensions and pallet dimensions

  3. 03

    Line rate and number of items per shift

  4. 04

    Stack height and layer pattern

  5. 05

    Space at the line and operator access

Send product data for assessment

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