How collaBoRatIve RoBots coUld fRee woRKeRs fRoM HaRMfUl palletIsInG woRK
By Mark Gray, country manager UK & Ireland at Universal Robots T
he process of stacking, loading and securing high quantities of goods onto a pallet, with the aim of safely storing or transporting them, has existed since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Known as palletising, it maximises the amount of product in a load while keeping it stable enough
to prevent damage. It is a necessity for any business that produces things at scale for commercial consumption. Without effective palletising, companies would struggle
to get their goods into the hands of consumers. There are around two billion pallets in service right now, with almost half a billion being produced every year. From barrels, to boxes, to bottles – the goods on these pallets keep the world fed, entertained and satiated. However, these pallets do not stack themselves.
THE DANGERS OF PALLETISATION Irving Paz Chagoya, global industry segment leader for Palletising and Packaging at Universal Robots is keenly aware of the wide- spread dangers palletising poses: “Traditionally, palletisation has been a manual operation – and in many cases it still is – we estimate that 250,000 people are employed in this type of work worldwide. Manual palletising requires these workers to perform the same strenuous task over and over again. Workers bend, lift and twist for hours on end, which can cause long term musculoskeletal damage.” Setia Hermawati, senior research fellow at
the University of Nottingham, an ergonomics expert that specialises in manufacturing, identifies three main ergonomics risk factors in manual palletising:
Force: During manual palletising, workers have to manually handle items and use forces in activities such as lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying. The continuous use of forces in manual material handling is shown to be associated with cumulative work-related muscle disorders such as back pain and back injuries, as well as neck and upper limb injuries. These disorders may have serious consequences for workers and limit their ability to perform activities in their daily life. The risk of manual handling is exacerbated when the items are too heavy, too large, difficult to grasp, and are positioned in a manner that requires torso bending or twisting.
62 connectInG IndUstRY 20tH annIveRsaRY edItIon
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
