How one of Germany's largest bakeries fully automated its entire crate handling process, from the return of empty crates to the loading of finished goods onto trucks.
The challenge
Unnoticed by consumers, large bakeries supply supermarkets and discounters with fresh bread and other baked goods in the cool early morning hours.
Hundreds of trucks leave at the same time and return to the bakery late in the morning with empty crates.
At unloading, up to 6,000 empty crates per hour must be transported, sorted, washed, and prepared for refilling.
Intense competition and price pressure in this sector are forcing companies to automate production as much as possible. In this context, Körber provides a concept for a completely new system for pallet and empty crate logistics.
Fully automated crate handling process
The solution
The Körber palletizing specialists combined the K.Handle depalletizer DPA1, the K.Handle destacker KE1 and the K.Handle layer palletizer PA11. The system is controlled by a Siemens S7 controller. The documentation is done via Profibus-DP.
The result is an efficient overall system for fully automated pallet and empty crate logistics, with operator intervention required only in the event of problems (e.g. caused by defective containers, damaged pallets, or residual waste).
Plastic honeycomb crates measuring 400 mm wide, 600 mm long and 160 mm high are used to transport the baked goods. Sixty of these crates fit on a pallet - stacked in four towers of 15 crates each.
The DPA1 separates the four stacks of crates from the wooden pallet at a rate of 100 pallets per hour.
After depalletizing the crate stacks, the KE1 separates the crates in a downward motion at a rate of 2,400 crates per hour. The individual crates are then turned and emptied into a collection container to remove any previously undetected residue.
After automatic or manual filling of the crates, they are stacked in towers of 15 crates, each 2,400 mm high. The new process, which of up to 14 crates per minute per line, automates and accelerates this previously manual and physically demanding process.
A shuttle system then picks up four finished stacks simultaneously, groups them into a block, and transports them to the palletizer.
Depending on the control settings, these are either stacks of the same product or stacks of mixed products. Körber designed the PA11 specifically for palletizing stacks of crates.
Its sliding floor system with a capacity of 100 pallets per hour groups four crate stacks side by side in one unit and pushes them onto the pallet (Düsseldorf half pallet or Euro pallet) provided by the pallet dispenser.
The ready to ship pallets are transferred to the logistics department.
Since all products in this large bakery are packaged in identical plastic crates, identifying the crates and pallets is relatively complicated. Moreover, in this case there are no labels.
Körber solved this problem by integrating an intelligent function into the control system: a crate tracking system monitors the movement of each product from the packing position to the palletizer. A text display shows the logistics operators the pallet number and the item number of the respective product.
The results
This solid Körber concept requires only one palletizer for the entire plant. Yet the unit can assemble and palletize a mixed consignment pallet with four different products.
A free program allows users to adapt the controls to their needs.
For example, the operator can choose between 1 and 15 layers per pallet.
Another major customer benefit is the ease of maintenance and care of the entire system.
This can be done by the customer's own staff during production downtimes without any special knowledge. This makes the customer independent of the supplier.
If necessary, software updates or changes can be carried out via VPN. Körber offers a 24/7 software service for this purpose.
Within six months, Körber implemented an efficient overall system for fully automated pallet and empty crate logistics for large bakeries that stabilizes the production process and ensures capacity reserves for our customer.
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