Case Study

AI-Driven Robotic Depalletizing System Boosts Safety at Book Fulfillment Center

Lakeside Book Company partnered with FANUC, APT Manufacturing, and FlexPAC to automate a labor-intensive depalletizing task using a high-tech robotic system. The solution, featuring FANUC’s AI-driven vision and robotics, handles heavy and variable mixed-case loads efficiently—processing over nine boxes per minute. It eliminated the need for manual handling of more than 45 million pounds annually and allowed workers to be reassigned to other areas, easing labor strain and boosting throughput.

Results

Automates depalletizing 45 million pounds annually
Improves safety and ergonomics
Enables reallocation of hard-to-find workers

Story

Leading book manufacturer and distributor Lakeside Book Company was looking for a solution to ease labor challenges and improve ergonomics of a manual depalletizing application. The automation had to exceed the capabilities of experienced, fast-paced workers who handled the extreme variability of the mixed case shipments. With FANUC’s engineering support and AI-powered software, APT Manufacturing and their partner FlexPAC built a robotic solution to meet the speed, throughput rate, flexibility and ROI that Lakeside Book Company needed.

The mixed case depalletizing system uses an APT Pre-Engineered MOD-PAL-140 equipped with the FANUC R-2000iC/125L robot as well as FANUC’s 3DV Vision Camera and iPC Box industrial PC. Because of the wide variety in each pallet, the robot was required to process boxes differing in colors and sizes as well as weights ranging from 10 to 50 pounds. APT developed a customized end of arm tool (EOAT) to execute the product handling. FANUC engineers used FANUC’s AI Box Locator software to help train the robot’s picking capability via FANUC’s vision system as well as the computing power of the iPC Box industrial PC.

The robotic depalletizing system now processes more than nine cases per minute, exceeding initial projections. Lakeside Book has reallocated extra workers previously needed in this critical bottleneck area to other jobs throughout the fulfillment center and has eliminated the heavy lifting of more than 45 million pounds annually.

We expect to increase throughput for around thirty percent, and that's huge for us, to keep up with what the market is and what our customer base are requiring.

Justin Smith

Vice President of Operations, Lakeside Book Company

FANUC Products Used

R-2000iC/125L

iPC Box

iRVision 3DV/1600 Sensor

Meet APT, FANUC Authorized System Integrator

APT Manufacturing Solutions has been providing high-tech solutions to manufacturing problems for our customers since 1996. Founded initially in a 2500 square foot facility as machining and machine building, APT is now manufacturing in a 100,000 square foot facility with state-of-the art equipment, technology, and people. Our operations are ISO 9001 certified. We are an authorized FANUC robotic integrator and certified at the highest level (V), as well as being an A3 Certified Robot Integrator.

Visit APT

About Lakeside Book Company:

As the leading book manufacturing, fulfillment, and distribution company in North America, we collaborate with our customers to bring their visions to life. Our legacy of innovation began in 1864 when R.R. Donnelley started as a partner at a small printing company in Chicago, laying the foundation for our rich history. Our longevity and success is largely attributed to our dedicated employees who manifest excellence through their contributions to our business, customers, and the communities in which we operate. We combine cutting-edge technology and efficient processes designed for maximum productivity with decades of book manufacturing experience to seamlessly execute on your projects.

Learn More about Lakeside Book Company