Columbia Machine: Robotic Capability Meets Conventional Palletizer Simplicity

Oct. 24, 2011
Columbia Machine: Robotic Capability Meets Conventional Palletizer Simplicity

Columbia Machine is excited to leverage the leading technologies from Rockwell Automation, Agile Planet and Motoman in this very powerful and simple to use palletizer.

Instead of having to harmonize two independent control technologies to manage the functions of the robot arm and the basic machine control, all of that is done through the ControlLogix PLC.  This not only gives increased reliability and pattern forming capability, it also allows plant personnel to easily understand and maintain the system.

Customers will work with familiar PLC controls and will no longer be required to learn and work with the robotic arm proprietary software.  This hybrid palletizer technology known as R-Factor, available only from Columbia Machine, marries this new technology - robotic capability and simple conventional palletizer designs - into a very powerful package that has never been available until the introduction of the FL2000-R.

R-Factor is available with any of Columbia Machine’s floor-level or high-level palletizers. A hybrid palletizer from Columbia Machine is able to quickly adapt to your frequently changing packaging and palletizing requirements.

Packages with high center of gravity, minimal packaging (and therefore protection), or those requiring labels out pattern forming, can now be handled with ease. Not only does the hybrid technology allow for handling of challenging package types, but it also is able to position cases upright just prior to layer formation. This allows difficult to convey, high CG products to be conveyed to the palletizer infeed easily and then be simply up-ended in the palletizer.

For more than 50 years, Columbia Machine has manufactured high-level, floor-level, and robotic palletizers and accessories in the USA.  Columbia features flexible, upgradeable designs to rates of over 150 cases per minute.  All Columbia palletizers are built in the USA and backed by 24-hour customer support and parts service.