Automated case packing & palletizing for Animal Health Products

A leading animal‑health manufacturer was set to launch a heavier product SKU, but the added weight pushed its manual case‑packing process past safe ergonomic limits. At the same time, persistent labor shortages meant only one of the plant’s two packaging lines could be staffed, capping daily throughput and threatening the launch schedule. To protect operators, eliminate hand‑packing, and regain full two‑line capacity, the team began searching for an automated end‑of‑line solution that could shoulder the heavy work while accommodating wide variation in pack sizes and shapes.

To eliminate manual lifting and restore full two‑line capacity, our team performed a full line assessment, then engineered an end‑of‑line system that automates every step from case erection through palletizing. A flexible robotic cell now handles seven high‑volume SKUs—roughly 70 % of the plant’s throughput—absorbing wide pack‑size swings and the shape changes that occur after heat‑shrink bundling. Integrated slip‑sheet dispensing, sealing, labeling, and stretch‑wrapping keep product flow continuous, while standardized controls tie the new equipment to existing upstream processes. The result, delivered from kick‑off to production in just one year, removes the ergonomic risk of hand‑packing, runs both packaging lines with the original crew size, and builds in scalability for future SKUs