Pallet Configurator Tool Tutorial

Learn how to use Vention’s pallet configurator tool to optimize your cobot palletizer operations. The pallet configurator is an intuitive, web-based simulation tool that takes you through step by step instructions to optimize the configuration of your pallet.

Introduction (0:00)

- To configure your pallet, the application will take you through a 4 step process: boxes, pallets, layouts and stacks

Customizing your boxes (0:39)

- To configure your first stacked pallet, start by creating a box by clicking “+add a new box” in the top right corner.

- On this screen you can name your box, change the dimensions of a box and add a weight.

- You will not be able to save a box unless a weight is provided as this data point helps to adjust the sensitivity of the cobot’s movement.

- If you require each box’s label to be visible from the outside of the pallet, you can nominate the side of the box containing the label using the drop down menu. The application will then ensure that this side faces outward from the pallet during the layout configuration process.

- You can add, remove or edit boxes as often as you need.

Selecting your pallet (1:33)

- Click “Create a Pallet” in the bottom right corner.

- Both the American and European standard pallet sizes have been pre populated.

- If you have a custom pallet that requires configuration, you can click “+add new pallet” or simply edit the existing entries.

Designing your layout (1:53)

- To start, click “add new layout” and you’ll be presented with an empty pallet.

- To change between pallets, you can use the drop down menu in the middle of the screen. Only one type of box can be used to create each layout and this is determined via the dropdown menu on the right.

- To continue manually, click “Add Box” and drag it to your desired location on the pallet. Continue using the “Add Box” button to complete the layout of your pallet.

- If two boxes overlap, they will turn red. Drag the boxes apart in order to resolve misconfiguration.

- The gap distance between boxes can be determined in the text box in the bottom left corner. If increased, previously adjacent boxes will turn red and will need to be adjusted to accommodate the new gap requirements.

- Once you are happy with your layout, click save and your layout will be displayed in the layout summary section.

- We strongly recommend that you use the “auto-layout” feature of the Palletizing MachineApp. The auto-layout algorithm optimizes the space of the pallet, along with ensuring that the cobot path avoids collisions with previously placed boxes.

- To utilize the auto-layout configuration, simply choose your pallet size and box from the dropdown menu and select “Auto-Layout” from the menu on the left.

- You will then have the decision between selecting a layout type: all forward will simply place the box as it comes off the conveyor, all rotated will rotate every box as it comes off the conveyor or optimized will take into account the dimensions of the pallet and box, along with the label visibility requirements to create the best possible layout.

- Once you’ve made your selection, click generate to see the layout, where adjustments can be made manually as necessary. Click save to save this layout and return to the layout summary page.

Creating a stack (4:42)

- Navigate to Stacks using the “Create a stack” button and then start by clicking “+Add new stack” in the top right corner.

- After naming your stack, you can ensure the pallet and layout selection is accurate, before deciding on the number of layers you wish to have.

- You can also choose the orientation of odd or even layers by using the drop down menu. Here, you can rotate all boxes 180 degree or mirror the orientation across the vertical or horizontal axis.

- If you wish to create a pallet stack that has a combination of different layouts, you can select the “advanced stack” option in the bottom left corner.

- Once toggled, you will see that you can now adjust each layer of the stack to your desired layout. As before, you can also adjust the orientation of each layer using the drop down menu.

- Once you’re satisfied with your pallet stack, click save and you’ll be returned to the stacks summary page.

Summary (5:46)

- Once all stacks have been completed, you can move to the “Summary” section to see the detailed specifications of the resulting pallet.

- Here, you can see the total boxes, SKUs, total height and total weight of the stacked pallet. If everything is to your satisfaction, you can go ahead and use the “download” button to save the pallet configuration to your computer, which then can be uploaded directly into your MachineMotion pendant.