THE SYSTEM, designed and built by integrator Uteco Contec, replaces an earlier set-up that could no longer deliver the performance and flexibility Bauli required. It incorporates Interroll’s 24V Modular Conveyor Platform (MCP) to feed products into four robotic palletising stations.

Sealed crates, visual boxes and display pallets bound directly for retail outlets arrive from the production lines. The system identifies each package, handles it without contact and sorts it to the correct station, where robots build loads of up to 2.5m high on Euro, industrial and Düsseldorf pallets, inserting interlayer separators for stability.

Completed pallets are collected by a self-propelled carousel and sent to two stretch-wrapping lines before labelling and transfer to the warehouse. Key functions are duplicated to maintain operations during peak production.

Interroll’s conveyor runs for around 65 linear metres across a facility of more than 2,500m², using approximately 690 rollers, 30 RollerDrives and 20 MultiControls to move cases at up to 0.6m per second.

Luca Ercolini, automation leader at Bauli, said: “Bauli and Uteco Contec worked as a single project team. Direct communication and the technicians’ willingness to help allowed us to quickly address the various needs that arose during development and commissioning. We’ve achieved a modern, efficient system built around our actual production flows.”

Completed in around a year from order, the system went into operation over the summer and is now in final testing.