Boermarke Freed Up 3 Workers by Automating Box Stacking

Based in Enschede, Netherlands, Boermarke is a family-run food producer of dairy and vegetable-based foods like cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and desserts.

As demand increased, their manual palletizing became a major bottleneck.

The slow, inefficient, and repetitive palletizing process was holding them back.

Hiring more workers wasn’t an option due to labor shortages. It’s not like people are lining up to palletize boxes.

They needed a better solution before their business would come to a halt. 

And that solution came in the shape of a collaborative FANUC robot provided by WiredWorkers. Cobots don’t rest while working as a labor force multiplier. That’s exactly what Boermarke experienced as they slashed staff costs and improved workplace safety.

Boermarke Couldn’t Keep Palletizing by Hand

Stacking boxes by hand is repetitive and tiring.

For Boermarke, this task used four employees every shift.

And with fewer available workers, productivity was suffering badly.

They knew manual stacking had to stop. It was slow, expensive, and it meant good employees spent too much time doing low-value work.

Traditional Robots Were Too Big, Expensive, And Complex

Traditional palletizing robots are bulky, expensive, and complicated to install and use.

They also lack the flexibility for different types of boxes.

Boermarke needed a simpler solution: something easy to use, reliable, and flexible.

Cobots ticked all these boxes, which is why Boermarke began working with WiredWorkers on implementing a collaborative palletizing FANUC-based solution.

How WiredWorkers Built a Simple, Flexible Palletizer

WiredWorkers designed a smart palletizing solution using a FANUC CRX25iA cobot equipped with a custom gripper.

Here’s exactly how the system works:

• A conveyor moves boxes to the palletizer.

• A printer from De Koningh prints a unique barcode on every box.

• The FANUC cobot uses its custom gripper to stack boxes accurately.

• Boermarke’s MES software controls the robot, reducing human errors.

While the system is simple, it achieves perfect process repetition. Boxes are stacked the same way, every time, without manual human lifting involved.

What Marcel said about their experience is critical for high-performing robotic automation, regardless if it's cobots or traditional robots. While cobots are much more flexible, it's still important to consider issues upfront and solve them before they arise. 

Boermarke’s Immediate Results

Switching to cobot palletizing immediately solved multiple big problems:

• Cut labor requirements by 75% (four employees down to just one)

• Reduced costs significantly with immediate labor savings

• Eliminated repetitive, physically demanding tasks

• Improved product consistency and stacking accuracy

• Boosted employee morale, satisfaction, and motivation

And they achieved all of that without a significant overhaul of their workspace. To achieve the same with traditional robotics, they’d need to meet more complex safety standards and work with a robotic technician every time they needed to add a new palletizing program. That’s what makes collaborative robots so powerful… You can quickly achieve such results with a relatively simple installation and programming.

Learn more about WireWorkers and Boermarke’s success below:

• Business Case | Boermarke | WiredWorkers

Enjoy your week!

The Cobot Spotlight Team