Crate and Pallet Washing Line and Handling System

In the cheese industry, transport crates and pallets circulate under strict hygiene requirements where cleanliness, traceability and a repeatable process are decisive. This turnkey delivery combines crate and pallet washing, drying, automated palletizing and stretch wrapping into a single seamless line, dimensioned for an hourly capacity of 1,000 crates and 100 pallets.

The line begins with infeed conveyors for full pallets and an ABB IRB 460 depalletizing robot, which lifts crate layers via a centering frame onto the washer infeed. The dual-lane crate washer includes pre-wash, main wash, pre and final rinse, and a disinfection stage — all built from stainless steel with thermally insulated tanks. The drying section uses ten 5.5 kW blowers to ensure less than 2 g of residual water per crate after washing. Pallets have their own single-lane washer and dryer. Empty pallets are handled by stacking magazines (15 pallets per pile), and a vision system separates red hygiene pallets from grey transport pallets, routing them into a dedicated stack — the operator selects the desired type from the HMI for palletizing.

The line ends with an ABB IRB 460 palletizing robot with a centering frame, outfeed conveyors for ten full pallets, and a Haloila Octopus Compact TSI wrapping machine with integrated top film dispenser. The entire system is controlled by a Siemens PLC and touch-panel HMI, with built-in OEE measurement for production monitoring. The solution reduces manual handling, ensures compliance with strict hygiene requirements and returns crates and pallets to production quickly and reliably clean.