From Pallet to Product: FANUC Cobots enhance Pharma Packaging

“In today’s world, where knowledge and expertise carry real value, we looked for robotic solutions that would support our employees in simple activities,” says Bartosz Wojtecki, Head of Pharmaceutical Production and Warehouse at Phytopharm Klęka.

Project Manager Bartosz Kwiatkowski expands: “We wanted to improve workplace ergonomics and increase flexibility in our pharmaceutical department, particularly during absences or staff shortages. Additionally, we aimed to reduce work monotony and minimise the risk of accidental injuries, all without compromising production efficiency.” 

By implementing a FANUC CRX series 6-axis collaborative robot (cobot) at the start of the company’s Romaco packaging line, ZW Automation automated the bottle de-palletising process, while at the end of the line, they installed a second FANUC CRX cobot to automatically stacks heavy boxes of finished product.

De-palletising marks the first stage of the production line, setting the overall tone for process reliability. The application presented several challenges: variable stack heights, fluctuating weights and uneven pallet surfaces. To address these demands, Phytopharm takes advantage of a FANUC CRX-20𝑖A/L cobot offering 1,418 mm reach and 20 kg payload. The cobot must pick and transfer packages of differing dimensions, many with delicate surfaces, while maintaining repeatable precision.

System integrator ZW Automation developed a dedicated gripper equipped with soft suction cups and an integrated vacuum control system to ensure the damage-free and efficient handling of products. The result is stable, accurate, fluid motion, with throughput reaching 3.4 packages per minute, surpassing initial performance expectations.

The second installation centres on a FANUC CRX-25𝑖A with 25/30 kg payload and 1889/1756 mm reach for stacking pre-selected boxes of finished products. Here, ZW Automation implemented FANUC PalletTool®, enabling operators to generate optimal stacking patterns and configure protective interlayers without altering the main cobot program. This capability gives Phytopharm’s team the freedom to introduce new carton formats independently, while sustaining repeatable output of to 8 cartons per minute. This figure again exceeded original projections.

A trio of scanners safeguard the palletising cell, allowing the FANUC CRX-25𝑖A to stack cartons to heights of 1.6 m without additional guarding or complex peripheral equipment. The result is a stable, high-quality automated process that preserves an open, accessible working environment.

The project delivers on two strategic objectives: targeted process automation and the creation of a safe, flexible workspace. With FANUC cobots at their heart, the workstations are intuitive to operate, highly productive and support flexible work scheduling over Phytopharma’s three-shift production.