The Challenge
A baby wipes manufacturer in North Wales needed to remove manual palletising from the end of two production lines. Palletising by hand at this volume is repetitive, physically demanding work, and it limits both the speed and consistency of the line. The business wanted a robotic solution capable of building varied, stable pallet patterns automatically, safely, and reliably, without a person needing to be on the pallet build at any point.
Duke Control Systems was brought in to support the system designer and manufacturer of the equipment on this project, providing additional engineering capacity for the electrical, programming, and commissioning work needed to get both lines into full production.
The brief: Support the commissioning of two KUKA robotic palletising cells, including electrical fault finding, pallet pattern creation, robot programming in KRL, and full safety system commissioning, ready for unattended production running.
What Duke Did
Electrical Fault Finding
As with any new installation of this complexity, electrical issues needed identifying and resolving as the cells were brought online. Duke's engineers worked through fault finding across both lines, tracing issues through the control system, wiring, and field devices to get each cell running cleanly and reliably ahead of full production handover.
Pallet Pattern Creation
Each line needed to build multiple pallet patterns to suit different product configurations. Duke's engineers developed the pallet patterns within the robot programming, ensuring each layer stacked correctly, stably, and consistently onto the wooden pallets, ready for onward transport without risk of the load shifting or collapsing.
KUKA Robot Programming in KRL
Both lines run on KUKA robots, programmed directly in KRL. Duke's engineers developed and refined the robot programs controlling the full palletising sequence, from picking each case off the infeed conveyor with vacuum grippers through to placing it accurately within the pallet pattern, cycle after cycle, across both cells.
Safety System Commissioning
Removing a person from the palletising task only works if the surrounding safety system is right. Each cell is enclosed with Fortress safety gates and protected by SICK light scanners, with pneumatic sliding doors providing safe, controlled access for changeover and maintenance without compromising the guarded area. Duke's engineers commissioned the full safety system across both lines, confirming guarding, interlocks, and scanner zones all functioned correctly before the cells were handed over for production.
Palletising is one of those jobs that looks simple from the outside but is genuinely hard physical work when it is done manually, all day, every day. Taking a person out of that role and replacing it with a robot that builds a cleaner, more consistent pallet every single time is a straightforward win, as long as the safety side is done properly.
Need extra hands on a robotic palletising project?
Whether it is fault finding, pattern development, robot programming, or safety commissioning, we can support your team or your equipment supplier directly.
Start a Conversation →The Outcome
Both robotic palletising lines were successfully commissioned and handed over to the manufacturer, removing the need for manual palletising entirely across both production lines. The result is a faster, more reliable, and significantly safer end of line, with consistent pallet builds and full safety-rated guarding protecting operators working nearby.
Duke supported one of its partners directly on this project, providing the additional engineering capacity needed to get both cells into production. Off the back of this project, further robotic palletising systems are being considered for other sites across the UK.
At a Glance
- Sector: FMCG, Baby Wipes Manufacturing, North Wales
- Scope: Electrical fault finding, pallet pattern creation, robot programming, safety commissioning
- Robot Platform: KUKA, programmed in KRL
- Lines: 2 robotic palletising cells
- Safety: Fortress safety gates, SICK light scanners, pneumatic sliding doors
- End Effector: Vacuum grippers
- Role: Supporting a Duke partner as additional engineering capacity
- Status: Complete. Further systems being considered across additional UK sites.