Ice Cream Manufacturer Triples Palletizing Efficiency with Programming Updates

When an automatic palletizing system isn’t performing as expected, replacing equipment isn’t always the answer.

A major novelty ice cream manufacturer had invested in an automated palletizing system but continued to experience serious performance issues. After more than two years of troubleshooting with its existing integration partner, the system was operating at only 30% efficiency.

Frequent backups, downtime, recirculation problems, and poor integration between robotics and conveyance limited production.

The manufacturer turned to SPI Automation for a fresh perspective. By focusing on programming and controls rather than replacing the system, SPI increased palletizing efficiency from 30% to 95%—more than a 3× improvement.

The Challenge: An Underperforming Palletizing System

The manufacturer had installed an automated palletizing system incorporating robotics, conveyors, and controls. But instead of delivering the expected productivity gains, the system was plagued by recurring issues.

Production teams experienced:

• Frequent product backups
• Excessive downtime
• Inefficient product recirculation
• Poor coordination between conveyors and robots
• Inconsistent pallet tracking
• Overall palletizing efficiency of only about 30%

The manufacturer had already spent more than two years attempting to troubleshoot the system with its existing integration partner without resolving the underlying problems.

The result was a costly automation investment that wasn’t delivering the expected performance.

The Solution: Programming and Controls Optimization

Referred to SPI Automation, the ice cream manufacturer brought in a team with extensive experience in robotics, controls, conveyance, and systems integration.

SPI immediately focused on identifying the system’s biggest pain points and prioritizing the issues that were having the greatest impact on throughput.

Rather than recommending a major equipment replacement, SPI determined that programming updates and controls optimization could deliver significant improvements.

SPI’s engineers applied programming best practices and standardized code to improve several key areas of the palletizing system, including:

Improved Sorting

Programming updates optimized product sorting and flow, reducing backups and helping products move through the system more efficiently.

Better Robot Performance

SPI refined robot programming to improve performance and coordination with the rest of the palletizing system.

Improved Conveyor Integration

Controls and programming were updated to improve communication and synchronization between conveyors, robots, and other system components.

More Reliable Pallet Tracking

Improved pallet tracking helped the system maintain better awareness of product and pallet positions throughout the process.

On-Site Engineering Support

With multiple interconnected issues affecting system performance, remote troubleshooting alone wasn’t enough.

SPI leveraged its team of experienced engineers and stationed personnel on-site until the issues were identified and resolved. This hands-on approach allowed the team to observe the system in operation, isolate problems, test solutions, and make programming changes quickly.

The result was a targeted solution focused on improving the performance of the manufacturer’s existing automation investment rather than starting over.

The Results: 3× Greater Efficiency

The impact was immediate and significant.

Palletizing Efficiency Increased from 30% to 95%

That’s more than a 3× improvement in efficiency, achieved primarily through programming and controls updates.

Just as importantly, the manufacturer avoided the cost and disruption of replacing its palletizing system.

SPI’s time-and-materials approach also allowed the manufacturer to address the highest-priority issues without committing to a large upfront project investment.

More Performance from Existing Automation

The project demonstrated that an underperforming automation system doesn’t necessarily require new equipment.

By addressing programming, controls, robot coordination, conveyor integration, and pallet tracking, SPI helped the manufacturer unlock significantly more performance from its existing palletizing system.

The manufacturer was so pleased with the results that it continued expanding its relationship with SPI.

What’s Next: Continuing to Improve the System

SPI is now working with the manufacturer on hardware improvements designed to increase palletizing efficiency even further.

The relationship is also expanding upstream, with the next project focused on improving additional processing steps before products reach the palletizing system.

What started as a troubleshooting project has evolved into an ongoing automation partnership focused on maximizing equipment performance and improving production efficiency.

Is Your Automation System Underperforming?

Before investing in new equipment, it may be worth taking a closer look at your existing controls, programming, robotics, and system integration.

SPI Automation helps food manufacturers troubleshoot underperforming automation systems, optimize controls and programming, and improve existing equipment performance.