Empty pallet handling

The problem

Empty pallets are part of almost every production and logistics process, yet moving them by hand is often overlooked as an ergonomic problem.

Although a single pallet is not exceptionally heavy, its dimensions and shape make it awkward to grip and carry safely. Operators often have to lift it from the floor, take it off a stack, stack pallets on top of one another or move them between workstations.

With a large number of pallets per shift, repetitive lifting, turning and stacking increase physical strain and slow down the work process.

A further problem arises when empty pallets have to be supplied continuously to a palletiser, production line, robot or other process equipment.

How we solve it

Depending on the process, we use two basic approaches to handling empty pallets.

For workstations where the operator moves pallets one at a time, we use vacuum or electric lifters that take the weight of the pallet. The operator picks up, lifts and moves the pallet with minimal physical strain and sets it down where needed in a controlled way.

For processes with a larger number of pallets, we use automatic empty pallet dispensers. Pallets are stacked in the unit's magazine and then dispensed one at a time to a palletiser, conveyor, robot or other process point.

In this way empty pallet handling can be adapted both to simple manual workstations and to fully automated logistics processes.

From lifting a single pallet to dispensing a whole stack automatically – we adapt the solution to the specific process.