Pallet Spider / Pallet Inserter Gantry System

A 20-year-old end-of-line system had become the plant's biggest bottleneck. Innoveyance rebuilt it as a single integrated palletizing line — built around the Pallet Spider, our Pallet Inserter Gantry System — nearly tripling effective throughput and cutting operator interventions tenfold.

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AT A GLANCE

140 → 220

Loads per hour at the affected stage

~10 → <1

Operator interventions per hour

3 → 2

Operators needed at the stage

<0.05%

Product damage / rework, held flat

THE PLANT

A high-volume box plant where the end of the line sets the pace

The customer is a high-volume corrugated box manufacturer on the West Coast, running three shifts a day, six days a week. Like most plants in the region, finished product ships out on wooden pallets — so clean, reliable pallet insertion and strapping at the end of the line is critical to keeping product moving.

THE PROBLEM

A 20-year-old line that couldn't keep up

The plant's end-of-line strapping and pallet-handling system had become the single biggest bottleneck on the floor. At roughly 20 years old, it was slow, outdated, and increasingly unreliable — the team estimated about 25% downtime from jams and stoppages.

Several issues compounded each other. Finished product had to change direction repeatedly, and a number of reciprocating devices slowed everything down. When the line jammed — which was often — pallets would get stuck and operators had to step in manually, then fight to get the system back into automatic mode. Beyond throughput, that created a genuine safety concern.

Maintenance made it worse. The original system came from a European manufacturer, so replacement parts and support were hard to get, and many components were now obsolete. Training new operators on the complicated, temperamental system was its own ongoing challenge.

“The main issue was throughput and safety. The system was slow and outdated, and pallets would sometimes get stuck in the system, causing operators to have to intervene.”

— Plant operations, on the original line

THE DIAGNOSIS

It wasn't more conveyor they needed

Rather than simply selling more equipment, Innoveyance's engineers looked at why the line kept stalling. The root cause was the layout itself: too many changes of direction, creating intersection points where loads collided and flow stopped. On top of the flawed layout, the original equipment simply wasn't built to be robust or efficient.

That distinction — a design problem, not a capacity problem — shaped the entire solution.

THE SOLUTION

One high-performance palletizing system on a single platform

Innoveyance replaced multiple independent systems with a fully integrated palletizing solution — anchored by the Pallet Inserter Gantry System (Pallet Spider) — on a single controls platform and communication architecture — a simpler, faster, more reliable end-of-line operation that maximizes throughput while reducing complexity.

Step 1 — Automated centering & product ID

As each load enters, automated centering devices precisely position it. Traveler information and sensor feedback identify the product, so the control system can prepare the correct pallet before the load arrives.

Step 2 — Intelligent pallet supply

Automated destacking and intelligent selection feed dual redundant, gantry-mounted pick heads that retrieve the right pallet and place it into a squaring nest — staged just in time for transfer beneath the incoming load.

Step 3 — Just-in-Time pre-staging

Instead of relying on multiple pallet picks to hit throughput, every downstream operation is prepared in advance. Each movement happens only when needed, and intelligent controls continuously balance workload for maximum throughput and reliability.

Step 4 — Recipe-driven load tiering

At the end of the line, recipe-driven tiering automatically arranges and transfers finished loads to designated forklift pickup locations — creating organized, shipment-ready lanes with minimal operator intervention.

THE RESULTS

Nearly triple the throughput — and real headroom

The new system nearly tripled throughput at the affected stage — from 140 to 220 loads per hour — while cutting operator interventions from about 10 per hour to fewer than one, and reducing staffing at the stage from three operators to two. Product damage stayed under 0.05%. With throughput nearly tripled on a single platform, see how it compares in Pallet Inserter Gantry vs. WSA and Sun Automation.

Before / After table

Just as important is the headroom. The line doesn't need to run flat-out all the time; what matters is that it can. When the line backs up, the system can run full tilt, clear the backlog, and return to standard production. Under the old system, a backup the operators couldn't outrun meant being stuck for a long time.

WHY INNOVEYANCE

One accountable partner, start to finish

This was a turnkey project from a single accountable partner. Innoveyance supplied the entire system — all of it built in the USA — and managed the installation in-house rather than handing it to outside contractors. Competitors typically use contractors who don't know the equipment and make mistakes on install.

The relationship runs deep. Innoveyance has worked with this customer for over 30 years — the replaced system was one they'd supported for two decades. A project manager was on site the entire time, working between the customer and the install team, with a full line of spare parts on hand and remote support. For more on the systems behind a rebuild like this, see our practical guide to Pallet Handling Equipment for Corrugated Plants.