Automated fruit packing line in Mexico, without replacing yours
Two robot cells, one at the start and one at the end. Your washing, your grader and your sorting tables stay where they are.
Illustrative demonstration. Your cell comes from your layout.
What gets automated and what stays?
| Station | Today | With Agro |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving and dumping | The crew takes crates off the pallet and turns them over | Fruit crate tipper: empties the full layer |
| Washing and waxing | Your equipment | Stays |
| Sizing | Your grader | Stays |
| Sorting and inspection | Your people, by eye | Stays, and it is where the people who stop lifting move to |
| Placing fruit in the box | Tables by hand, at the outfeed that takes the most people | Robotic case packer: places fruit piece by piece |
| Palletizing | By hand or with what you already have | Optional, with Target Robotics, our sister company |
Where do I start?
- I cannot find people to lift at peak. Start with the crate tipper: heavy lifting is the first post left empty.
- I get claims for bruised fruit. Measure before you buy. The hardest impacts tend to be at dumping, and the crate dumping guide explains how to measure them.
- Packing holds me back and the customer wants an exact pack. Start with the case packer, at the outfeed that takes the most people.
- I run a short season at one shift. Run the payback numbers before you talk to anyone: with few hours a year, payback stretches out.
Buying in stages is also buying well
A cell pays for itself with the days and shifts it runs. So it makes sense to put the first one where it gets used most and let that same math pay for the second.
If you want to look at credit or leasing in stages, see robot financing. To see how Mexico's immediate deduction for machinery plays out in a packing house, take the question to your accountant.
What to measure before asking for a quote
- Metric tons per hour at peak and on a normal day.
- Crates per minute dumped today, and how many people work that post per shift.
- Pieces per minute per person at the packing table.
- Losses from bruising, from the orchard to the box.
- Season days and shifts.
Questions about automating the line
What does an automated fruit packing line mean?
An automated fruit packing line does by machine what one of its stations used to do by hand. It can be done in parts; the usual start is where the load is heaviest, which tends to be crate dumping and placing fruit in the box.
Do I have to buy a new line?
No. Agro's two cells go before and after the line you already have. Washing, waxing, the grader and the sorting tables stay. If you are after a complete line, there are manufacturers that build them and you are better off talking to them.
Which one do I start with?
Usually the fruit crate tipper, because that is where the heaviest load is and it is the machine with published data. The case packer gets quoted with your fruit and your pack pattern. If what holds you back today is packing at peak, the order can be reversed.
Can it be installed without stopping the line?
It is planned for the low part of your season and without stopping the whole line, because the cell mounts at the ends. How many days of downtime the hookup needs gets confirmed with your floor plan.
Tell us how your line runs
With your fruit, your volume and your shifts we will tell you which cell to start with and why.