At Hendaye, heterogeneous palletization to optimize storage space and reduce the carbon impact of road transport
Sokoa, a French manufacturer of seating and seating solutions for professional spaces, based in Hendaye (64), has since March 2024 adopted the robotic innovation designed by Equans Digital, an Equans Group network specializing in ICT and digital solutions, and implemented by local teams from Ineo, an Equans France entity: the robotization of multi-format parcel pallets. Heterogeneous palletization offers a number of benefits: it reduces labor, optimizes production and storage space, and improves the carbon footprint of goods transport.
The "Tetris" of palletizing
Industrialists and logistics professionals are currently facing major difficulties in automating and optimizing palletization when packages come in a variety of sizes, weights and volumes. Although data is difficult to quantify, it is estimated that, on average, 30% of goods are empty. An estimate that can approach 80% of useful truck volume in the case of restocking, often in small volumes, or deliveries to private individuals! Although it may be impossible to achieve "zero empty", getting closer to this goal would generate considerable savings in CO2 emissions and accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality.
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The challenge of heterogeneous palletizing lies in creating tailor-made solutions. To meet this challenge, the Equans Digital and Ineo teams have developed a robotic solution incorporating an algorithm to replace manual palletizing. In concrete terms, the algorithm first performs a calculation based on business rules: parcel orientation, weight, fragility, pallet dimensions, maximum height, etc.
A palletization plan then follows, and is transmitted to the robotic system that will make up the pallet, thus meeting the challenge of the "Tetris" of parcels. Thanks to these interfaces, the algorithm uses either customer data (ERP), or real-time information from sensors (measurement, weighing, dimensional scanning, label reader, etc.) to generate palletization plans on demand.
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