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Location:
Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France
industry:
Food / Beverages
Application:
Palletizing, Pallet Handling
In the beverage industry, the focus during optimization of production lines is usually on central process steps such as filling or packaging. Here, availability and speed directly determine output. At the same time, experience shows that downstream processes also influence overall performance. These processes are rarely the main focus, but they play a key role in determining how stable and consistent a line’s operation is. In the area of pallet handling in particular, many systems have evolved over the years. Materials handling technology, forklift traffic, and manual interventions are all interlinked and function with high reliability, but they often require significant effort to adapt to new requirements.
Modern palletizing solutions today are powerful and technically mature. They meet the requirements for speed, precision, and integration into a wide variety of production line concepts. In practice, however, another aspect comes to the fore: the interaction with the material flow surrounding the system. It is precisely at this interface that the true efficiency of a solution in day-to-day operation is determined. A concrete real-world example illustrates how this area can be further developed.
Client: Sidel
Location: Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre, France
Industry: Food / Beverages / Household and Personal Care Products
Application: Palletizing, Pallet Handling
Sidel develops solutions for the beverage and packaging industries and is one of the world’s leading providers in the fields of filling, packaging, and palletizing. At its Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre site in France, approximately 200 employees work on robotics and end-of-line technologies. The focus is no longer solely on individual machines, but rather on the interaction of entire production and logistics processes.
A New Perspective on Material Flow
With the RoboAccess_Pal S, Sidel has developed a palletizing solution that addresses all the requirements of beverage manufacturers: The machine features a compact design, can be flexibly deployed between lines, and enables safe operator access—both when removing finished pallets and when supplying empty ones. Thanks to the motorized column, pallet heights of over two meters can also be achieved. Technically, the solution is fully mature. And that is precisely why another, decisive factor becomes apparent in practical use. What the RoboAccess_Pal S originally lacked was neither power rating nor an additional function. It was the connection to the next step. Because at the end of the line, the same critical moment always arises: Finished pallets must be removed, while at the same time new ones must be ready at the right time. Until now, this process has been organized—often with extensive infrastructure that takes up space, requires maintenance, and limits flexibility.
Sidel has made a conscious decision against expanding traditional pallet handling systems. Instead of installing additional infrastructure, the existing solution is being expanded in collaboration with SEW USOCOME and SEW-EURODRIVE—through an autonomous transport system that connects directly to the machine. This vehicle performs two tasks simultaneously: it removes finished pallets from the process while simultaneously supplying new ones. This eliminates the need for an entire process step.
Proven drive technology at the core
The vehicle is powered entirely by technology from the SEW-EURODRIVE portfolio. A servo gearmotor handles the motion, controlled by a flexible MOVIMOT® inverter and the MOVI-C® CONTROLLER UHX25A. Power is supplied contactlessly via the MOVITRANS® inductive system, which enables rapid intermediate charging at defined points. These technologies are not new; they are proven. SEW-EURODRIVE has been developing and manufacturing automated guided vehicles for about ten years and brings this experience to bear in the solution.
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Standard platform instead of a custom solution
The solution deployed is based on a standardized vehicle platform. Adaptability is key here: the vehicle is connected to the respective load via an interface plate. This allows not only different pallet formats to be transported, but also containers or unpackaged parts—without having to modify the platform itself.
What’s Changing at the End of the Line
The integration of mobile robotics streamlines the material flow and better adapts it to real-world requirements. The need for fixed infrastructure decreases, while at the same time there is more flexibility for changes in layout or processes. This is a decisive advantage, especially in existing facilities, as adjustments become possible without having to make major changes to the line’s structure. However, it’s not just about material flow: the positive effects on safety are often overlooked. Critical situations regularly arise in areas with heavy forklift traffic. By taking over transport duties, automated transport systems reduce the need for direct human intervention and eliminate traffic movements. As a result, the safety level increases not just in specific areas, but throughout the entire system.
The collaboration on this project is not an isolated case. Sidel and SEW-EURODRIVE have been working together for years in the field of drive technology and automation solutions for packaging machines. The integration of the transport system is therefore simply the logical next step in this partnership. At first glance, this approach may seem unremarkable, but it has tangible effects in operation. Sidel is not replacing any machine or individual process step. Sidel is replacing an approach. Instead of adding more technique, existing complexity is reduced and supplemented by a flexible, integrated solution. Combined with SEW-EURODRIVE’s drive technology, this creates an end-of-line system that requires less space, necessitates less maintenance, and is simultaneously safer and more adaptable. The difference lies not in more technology, but in a system that works better together.
Mobile robotics has arrived in the industrial sector. Autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) move materials, supply production lines, and perform tasks that were long considered part of traditional intralogistics. Especially in the beverage industry, where high throughput and standardized processes dominate, the benefits are clear: more efficient transport, fewer manual interventions, and greater automation. This effect is amplified by a growing variety of product variants, more frequent format changes, and an increasing need for flexibility. In this environment, a flexible material flow pays off particularly well. Mobile robotics decouples the material flow from fixed infrastructure and makes it mobile. Instead of transporting materials along defined lines, flexible processes emerge that can be dynamically adapted. This fundamentally shifts the perspective: from the mere transport of materials from A to B to the design of a flexible, integrated end-to-end system.
An important factor for success lies in the availability of standardized platforms. Modern autonomous transport vehicles can be used for different loads and adapted to specific requirements via interfaces. This facilitates both their use in new facilities and their gradual integration into existing environments. Projects remain manageable and can be implemented with predictable costs. This clearly demonstrates the added value of SEW-EURODRIVE and its robotics solutions.
Our customers’ requirements in the end-of-line sector are clearly focused on automation to replace manual tasks that can be physically demanding for operators, and customers expect solutions that are reliable and simple, cost-effective, and compact so that they can be integrated into their industrial environment.Fabien Chiron, Head of End-of-Line Product Management at Sidel
“Primarily in the end-of-line area. Here, mobile systems handle tasks such as sorting and transporting pallets—for example, to the shipping area, to sorting systems, or into packaging cells. We also see clear use cases around the filling line: Mobile robotics supplies systems with materials such as labels or handles the removal of rejects, such as damaged bottles or jars. And the potential goes much further: throughout the entire intralogistics process, wherever materials need to be moved flexibly and reliably.”
“The biggest advantage is flexibility. Mobile robotics decouples the material flow from rigid conveyor structures. Processes can be adapted, layouts changed, and capacities scaled. This is a decisive advantage, especially in the beverage industry, where products, container sizes, and line concepts are constantly evolving. This adaptability is increasingly becoming a competitive factor. Mobile robots have a modular design and offer flexibility, efficiency, and adaptability for future-proof and smart automation in production, mounting, and logistics. They can be easily integrated into production, whether in new facilities or during retrofits.”
“The most important point is to ideally incorporate mobile robotics from the very beginning as an integral part of the plant architecture. At the same time, standardized, modular approaches are helpful: With platform solutions that are quickly available, projects can be implemented much more easily. They enable rapid startup and work equally well in retrofit projects and in the planning of new facilities.”
“Mobile robotics is no longer just an add-on, but a central building block for flexible and future-proof production and logistics concepts. It realizes its full potential when incorporated into the planning from the very beginning, but also offers clear competitive advantages in retrofit projects.”