Lessons from 300+ palletizing projects in 2025

After greater than 300 palletizing releases in 2025– and over 900 Lean Palletizing systems currently running in manufacturing– we saw a clear pattern arise.

The producers that did well really did not have best information, limitless spending plans, or robotics groups on standby. What they had was quality: on their discomfort, their top priorities, and their determination to begin.

Right Here’s what 2025 showed us regarding palletizing automation and what it implies if you’re considering your initial relocation.

And if you choose supervising analysis, you can obtain these understandings together with video clip study from SC Johnson, Coca-Cola, and Korea Filter Design in our webinar replay.

1. Labor difficulties aren’t momentary. They’re architectural.

By 2025, labor lacks quit being a threat and ended up being an operating problem.

Throughout food, drink, and durable goods, producers informed us the very same tale:

• Persistent problem staffing palletizing function
• High turn over on repeated end-of-line jobs
• Expanding dependence on overtime or momentary labor

The lesson was candid: cobot palletizing shields manufacturing connection It does not resolve working with– however it eliminates your most breakable reliance from the formula.

2. Safety and security relocates jobs much faster than performance ever before will certainly

Lots of producers presume automation choices are driven by throughput. Actually, security opened authorizations much faster than performance gains.

Projects relocated quickest when:

• Ergonomic threats were plainly recorded

• HSE and human resources were included early

• Palletizing was mounted as a lasting security financial investment

In 2025, the fastest jobs really did not begin with cycle times. They began with individuals.

3. ROI functions best when it’s mounted as expense evasion

Winning jobs really did not “verify ROI later on.” They evaluated it upfront.

Effective groups came prepared with:

• Labor expense per change
• Yearly expense of staffing a palletizing terminal
• Overtime, turn over, and injury-related expenses

Projects that delayed usually done not have an economic standard or a clear proprietor. The takeaway: ROI mounted as expense evasion does well, specifically with procedures and financing stakeholders.

4. One line defeats a factory-wide strategy

Aspiration eliminated extra jobs than budget plan.

Suppliers that did well begun with:

• One line
• One item household
• One clear trouble to resolve

They released, discovered, maintained– and just after that scaled. Waiting on the “best” factory-wide service constantly postponed progression. In 2025, energy defeated excellence whenever.

5. Possession issues greater than innovation

Some stalled jobs had the ideal robotic, the ideal application, and the ideal companion. What they really did not have was possession.

Effective palletizing jobs had:

• A called enroller
• A clear decision-maker
• A timeline linked to actual functional stress

Automation dealt with as a “nice-to-have” seldom progressed. Choices should be had to relocate.

6. The majority of palletizing applications are currently cobot-ready

Among the largest shocks from 2025: the number of producers currently gotten cobot palletizing.

If your application resembles this:

• Instances in between 1– 35 kg (1– 77 pounds)
• Typical pallets (48×40 or Euro)
• Secure end-of-line circulation
• Hard-to-staff palletizing function

You’re likely reduced danger than you assume. For lots of plants, the obstacle had not been expediency– it was understanding.

7. End-of-line is where discomfort focuses

Palletizing constantly provided the fastest alleviation since:

• It’s hardest to team
• It brings high ergonomic danger
• It’s separated from upstream procedures

Contrasted to automating earlier manufacturing actions, end-of-line palletizing reduced disturbance while supplying prompt functional effect.

8. Waiting on development is a shedding approach

A typical reluctance we listened to: ” We’ll automate when quantities raise.”

Actually, labor restrictions struck prior to development does. Suppliers that automated early made use of palletizing to:

• Enable development
• Absorb need spikes
• Avoid future traffic jams

Those that waited usually discovered themselves responding under stress. In 2025, automation functioned best as a development enabler, not a last option

9. Adaptability defeats peak rate

Suppliers regularly overstated just how quickly they required to palletize.

What in fact mattered:

• Trusted uptime
• Easy transitions
• Operators that felt great running the system

Peak rate looked excellent theoretically. Trusted adaptability won on the flooring.

10. Cobot palletizing functions best as a functional device

One of the most effective producers quit dealing with palletizing as a one-off automation task.

Rather, they dealt with cobots like:

• Typical manufacturing tools
• A security and labor force security possession
• A lasting component of their operating version

When palletizing really felt facility and high-risk, fostering endured. When it really felt acquainted and useful, it stuck.

Perk lessons that altered minds

Assimilation worry is larger than the actual combination initiative.
The majority of releases took place in 1– 3 days, not weeks, with marginal upstream modifications and lighter IT participation than anticipated.

Downtime danger matters greater than funding expense.
Execs concentrated much less on CapEx and extra on missed out on deliveries, overtime, and direct exposure when labor really did not appear.

Convenience of usage identifies lasting success.
Operators– not designers– run palletizers daily. Straightforward user interfaces and quick training constantly surpassed innovative attributes.

The usual beginning factor

Suppliers that progressed usually started with:

• One line, one item household
• A basic ROI price quote (labor + security)
• A low-risk expediency check
• Clear possession and a timeline

The lesson from 2025 is clear: palletizing automation does not require to be complicated to be efficient It requires to be based in actual functional discomfort– and made for individuals that run it daily.

Is Lean Palletizing the ideal suitable for your assembly line?

Not every line has the very same needs. Haul, cycle time, SKU mix, and readily available area all issue.

Usage Robotiq’s Palletizing Fit Tool to swiftly examine whether cobot palletizing makes good sense for your procedure and what a sensible implementation might resemble for your center.