If you have been told that robotic pallet labeling is not available on the Altech platform, that is wrong. The ALrobot is on the Altech price list. It just has no page on altech.it, altech-us.com or altech-uk.com.
The ALrobot is a four axis articulated arm that applies labels to a stationary pallet. Instead of moving the pallet to a labeling station, the arm works on the pallet where it stands, and because it is articulated it can change its approach angle to the load.
Marapack Services is the Pacific Northwest distributor for Altech labeling systems, and the ALrobot is on the same distributor price list as every other machine we sell.
Pallets built in a corner and labeled by hand? Book an equipment audit and we will tell you whether an arm or a fixed station fits your floor.
Marapack Services is an independent company, not Altech S.r.l. and not ALTech US. We import Altech equipment direct from the factory in Bareggio, Italy.
What is the Altech ALrobot?
The Altech ALrobot is a robotic pallet labeling arm, price list code AC25: a four axis articulated applicator with an 1100 mm (about 43 in) working radius and a 7 inch touchscreen. It labels a pallet where the load stands, from a fixed mounting position, instead of conveying the load past a fixed labeling station.
The machine, by Altech's own part code
| Altech code | Family name | Documented specification |
|---|---|---|
| AC25 | ALrobot | Four axis articulated pallet labeling arm, 1100 mm (about 43 in) working radius, 7 inch touchscreen |
Three documented figures, and each one is a real constraint rather than a marketing number:
Four axes. Enough articulation to change the approach angle of the applicator, which is what lets one machine work on more than one face of a load without the load moving, depending on where it is mounted.
An 1100 mm working radius, about 43 inches. That is the envelope. Everything the arm can label has to be inside it, which makes the mounting position, not the arm, the critical design decision. Where the arm is bolted determines what it can reach, and that is decided on the site visit.
A 7 inch touchscreen. The machine is set up and operated locally, which matters on a pallet build area that is not next to an office.
Why choose a robotic arm over a fixed pallet labeler?
Choose a robotic arm when the pallet is parked rather than conveyed, when more than one face needs a label without turning the load, or when the build area has no room for a conveyor and a fixed station. On a conveyorized pallet line, a fixed print and apply station is usually the simpler answer.
Pallet labeling has an awkward geometry problem. The label is large, the load is tall, more than one face usually needs a label, and the load does not always present itself squarely.
A fixed print and apply station solves this by moving the pallet: it is conveyed past the applicator, one face at a time, using one of Altech's large format tamp applicators at 500, 750 and 1000 mm. That is the right answer on a conveyorized pallet line where the pallets keep coming. The fixed-station options are on our ALcode P pallet labeler page.
An articulated arm solves it the other way: the pallet stays where it is and the arm moves. That is the right answer when the pallet is parked rather than conveyed, when more than one face needs a label without turning the load, or when the pallet build area does not have room for a conveyor and a fixed station.
Neither is better. They answer different questions about your floor, and the question we ask on the site visit is a simple one: does the pallet come to the machine, or does the machine have to come to the pallet? The full range of automatic pallet labelers is compared on our pallet labeling hub.
What goes on a pallet label?
A pallet label carries the SSCC, the serial shipping container code unique to that pallet, in a GS1-128 barcode, plus human readable text. Under PTI, a hybrid pallet label adds a GTIN, a batch or lot and a case count for each unique composition of cases. Because the SSCC is unique, it has to be printed in place.
The pallet label is why the whole system has to print in place rather than apply a pre-printed roll:
- The SSCC, the serial shipping container code, is unique to that pallet by definition. It cannot be pre-printed.
- Under PTI, a hybrid pallet label carries the SSCC in a GS1-128 barcode, plus a GTIN, batch or lot and case count for each unique composition of cases on the pallet. A mixed pallet carries more data than a single commodity one.
- Human readable text sits alongside for the people reading it on a dock.
- Print quality is graded, and under the GS1 General Specifications the minimum acceptable print quality for a GS1-128 barcode is an ISO/IEC 15416 overall grade of 1.5. A pallet labeling system that produces an unreadable code has not done its job even though it produced a label.
The full detail, including placement rules, is in our guide to SSCC label requirements.
Where does robotic pallet labeling fit?
Robotic pallet labeling fits where loads are built in place rather than conveyed: fruit and vegetable sheds that build pallets in a corner, cold storage and distribution, customers who specify labels on more than one face, mixed and variable loads, and moderate volumes where a conveyorized pallet line cannot be justified.
Fruit and vegetable packers. Pallet labels are the second half of a PTI implementation, and in a lot of sheds the pallet gets built in a corner rather than on a conveyor. That is exactly the ALrobot case.
Cold storage and distribution. Loads that arrive built, needing an identity applied before they ship.
Multi face labeling requirements. Retail and foodservice customers that specify labels on more than one face, where turning a built load is not practical.
Mixed and variable loads. Where the pallet composition changes constantly and the label content changes with it.
Low to moderate pallet volumes. Where a conveyorized pallet line cannot be justified but hand applying large pallet labels has become a reliability problem.
What does the ALrobot integrate with?
The ALrobot integrates with a print engine or a print and apply head that prints the label as the pallet is finished, a data interface that feeds it the right SSCC and case composition, an optional in line camera that reads the printed code, and Altech handling equipment where the pallet does move.
A print engine or a print and apply head. The label has to be printed at the moment the pallet is finished. Altech print and apply heads take SATO thermal transfer engines: the S84 series at 200, 300 or 600 dpi (TX42, TX43, TX46), the S86 series at 200 or 300 dpi (TX62, TX63), or an LT408 module (CD40). Each needs its integration assembly, ST40 for the CD40 and ST50 for any of the SATO S series engines. That assembly is a line item often missing from a print and apply quote.
Data interface. Ethernet, RS232C, USB, RS422 and RS485, or wireless LAN (CD70 to CD77). A pallet label is correct only if the machine is fed the right SSCC and the right case composition at the right moment, which makes the interface into your warehouse or ERP system part of the specification rather than an afterthought.
In line camera option. Altech's smart camera for over print reading (CS16) is a price list line item that can be quoted with the print and apply head. It reads the code after it is printed, in line. On a pallet about to leave the building, that is the last opportunity to catch a code your customer's receiving scanner will reject.
Handling. Infeed and outfeed rotary tables and conveyors from the Altech handling range, where the pallet does move.
How Altech names it
AC25 is the price list code, in the AC applicator series alongside the tamps, air blow units, rotary arms and servo drive applicators. The family name is ALrobot.
Being in the AC series is itself informative: Altech classifies it as an applicator, which is to say it is the part that applies the label, and it belongs to a system that also includes a head, a print engine and a data feed.
SX and DX in Altech's factory and serial records are the Italian abbreviations for left hand and right hand, and they appear on order confirmations and machine plates. Handing is decided before fabrication, not on site.
Two process facts, because a robotic project is longer than a head purchase: the machine is built to order in Italy, and an approval drawing has to be signed and returned before fabrication starts. For a robot that has to reach specific faces of a specific load in a specific corner of your building, that drawing is the most important document in the project. Once it is running, factory quotes for replacement parts for Altech machines are keyed to its serial number and Commessa number.
Frequently asked questions
How many pallets an hour can the ALrobot label? Not documented in the distributor material we hold, and we will not invent a figure for a machine somebody would specify against. Tell us your pallets per hour and how many faces need labels and we will get the current specification from Altech before we quote.
How many faces can it label? It is a four axis articulated arm with an 1100 mm working radius, so the honest answer is that it depends on where it is mounted relative to the load. That is a site measurement rather than a catalog answer, and it is the first thing we look at on the visit.
How tall a load can it label? Reach is set by the applicator and the mounting geometry. Give us the load height and the label positions your customer specifies, and we will tell you which configuration reaches them.
Do we need to conveyor our pallets to use it? No, and that is largely the point. It is the option for a pallet that is parked rather than conveyed. If your pallets are already on a conveyor, a fixed print and apply station with a large format tamp is usually the simpler and cheaper answer.
Can it replace hand applying pallet labels? That is the case it is built for. Hand applying a large pallet label is slow, inconsistent in placement, and produces a barcode that is often applied over a wrapping seam or a shrink wrap fold, which is a common cause of a rejected scan at receiving.
Why is there so little published about the ALrobot? Because Altech does not market it: there is no page for it on altech.it, altech-us.com or altech-uk.com, which we checked by searching all three sitemaps. It is on the distributor price list we hold, and that is where this page's figures come from.
What about guarding and safety? An articulated arm in a pallet build area is a safety design question as well as a labeling one, and it gets answered on site with your safety people rather than on a web page. We raise it early rather than late.
The one that has to be seen on site
A robotic pallet labeler, even more than a head or a conveyor, is specified from the floor rather than from a catalog. Where the arm mounts, what it can reach, where the operator and the forklift traffic go and how the pallet is presented are all site facts.
We will look at the pallet build area, work out whether an articulated arm or a fixed station is the right answer, and tell you honestly when it is neither. Call 253-709-5566 or have your pallet build area assessed.