Centralized vs end-of-line palletizing: layout tradeoffs

Centralized palletizing brings products from several lines to a shared palletizing area. End-of-line palletizing places equipment near each line's discharge. The better arrangement depends on the shape of demand, transport distance, product identification, and what happens when equipment stops. Compare the whole material flow and operating footprint before comparing robot counts.

Draw two complete material flows

For each arrangement, draw cases leaving the packer, passing through accumulation and identification, reaching palletizing, and leaving as wrapped or otherwise shipment-ready loads. Include empty-pallet supply, separators, rejected cases, and forklift travel. Then identify every merge, crossing, and transfer that the proposal adds.

KUKA's palletizing overview includes conveyor, software, and mobile pallet logistics. Use that wider boundary when estimating project scope. A central robot area can reduce duplicated equipment while adding transport and routing work that belongs in the same comparison.

Our case palletizing guide covers the cell-level questions. For this layout decision, keep each proposed cell inside the larger map so space savings are measured across the complete installation.

Compare peaks that happen together

Collect time-stamped output for all contributing lines. Do not add separate average rates and assume that number describes the central station's hardest period. Look for correlated production bursts, simultaneous shift starts, and product changes that force pallet exchanges at similar times.

In a hypothetical plant, three lines average four cases per minute each but can each produce seven during a short burst. A shared cell sized only around twelve cases per minute needs an explicit plan for the possible twenty-one-case peak. If the bursts never overlap, measured scheduling evidence may support a smaller shared capacity. Otherwise, assess buffering, production coordination, or added handling capacity.

Size buffers around real events

For each stop scenario, calculate incoming cases during the interruption and identify where they can accumulate. State whether a buffer is dedicated to a line or shared. A shared buffer can be full of one product while another line needs capacity, so total case spaces alone may overstate its usefulness.

Dematic's mixed-case architecture connects retrieval sequence with pallet building. The same coordination issue matters when several production lines feed a common area. Your specification should say which controller decides release priority and how the system avoids blocking one product behind another.

If the central concept also builds mixed orders, extend the analysis with our mixed-SKU palletizing guide. Sharing one area does not by itself make random interleaving manageable.

Test failure impact and operating access

Walk through a robot fault, conveyor fault, full-pallet blockage, and unreadable product identity. Determine which lines can continue, for how long, and by what approved route. Define an alternative operating method only if the layout, staffing, and risk assessment support it; an informal promise to move cases by hand is not a capacity plan.

For local cells, measure how frequently employees must visit separate stations and whether pallet delivery conflicts with production access. The Universal Robots palletizing guide illustrates a single-conveyor, single-pallet configuration. Treat that as one layout example and validate replenishment, pallet exchange, and access for your arrangement.

Compare lifetime scope before selecting the layout

Ask for installed cost covering transport, controls, floor work, pallet supply, safeguarding, commissioning, and training. Include service access and spare equipment. Evaluate future product changes and the likely location of another line; a central area with no practical conveyor route for expansion may have limited value despite spare robot capacity.

Compare FAIRINO layouts on the same production data

Ask for a FAIRINO-based concept in each feasible layout so you can compare total installed cost against the same line-output history. Use the palletizing application brief and FAIRINO comparison to frame the load and reach requirements, then verify each station's sustained capacity. Request a FAIRINO palletizing layout and quote with both flow drawings, synchronized case arrivals, and pallet exchange timing. Include conveyor routing, buffering, and failure isolation in the comparison rather than deciding from arm count alone.