Kuka System Solution

When leading beverage companies want to streamline retail distribution, they turn to KUKA Systems to design and install integrated pallet-building lines that provide a major increase in throughput over manual operations. KUKA Systems recently deployed one such layer palletizing and case picking line for one of North America's leading beverage companies, helping lower overall supply chain costs. Such a setup permits beverage makers to move completed order pallets from a large regional distribution center directly to major retail outlets, shortening the distribution pathway. Previously, these pallets had been assembled manually at smaller, often overburdened local warehouses, which is time- and labor-intensive.
The recently deployed system can process 5,000 cases per hour. It features KUKA Systems' automated high speed layer-picking system as well as its layer-forming and mixed palletizing cell. Handling of the highest demand products - approximately 65% of the customer order volume assembled at that regional center - is fully automated. That cell features KUKA Systems' state-of-the-art layer pick head on a robot arm that lifts cases from underneath, reducing the risk of product damage associated with traditional robot- or gantry-mounted grippers that use clamps or vacuum technology to grab cases from the top or sides.
KUKA Systems Corp North America, a Michigan-based company, is part of the KUKA Systems Group of Augsburg, Germany, a leading global supplier of flexible automation systems for the logistics, automotive, aerospace, energy and industrial machinery solutionssectors with more than 3500 employees worldwide. The company is a world leader in automated picking and palletizing systems and logistics for warehouses and distribution centers. Its fields of competence include end-of-line palletizing, depalletizing, mixed product palletizing, and engineering and consulting services in connection with overall warehouse and distribution center storage and order fulfillment generation.

(source: http://www.reuters.com)