Palletizer Downtime on Camera: End of Line Stops With a Clip

Key takeaways

• A palletizer PLC (programmable logic controller) reports "dispenser fault" or "outfeed full", not where the stop started.
• Two camera views do most of the work: the layer table and the pallet infeed.
• A full pallet that cannot leave means blocked by the wrapper or pallet removal, not a palletizer fault.
• On a sample shift, the palletizer's own faults cost the filler nothing. Pallet supply and blocked time cost $420 a shift.

Point one camera at the palletizer's layer table and one at its pallet infeed, and every end of line stop gets a short clip. The clip shows whether the palletizer failed, ran out of pallets or slip sheets, or had nowhere to put a full pallet.

Fabrico is OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) and light MES (manufacturing execution system) software, with AI cameras as an add-on. The camera marks each stop and keeps the clip, and the operator confirms the reason in one tap. For the full OEE method, see our palletizer OEE guide.

Why does the palletizer get blamed for stops it did not cause?

The palletizer sits between the case packer and the stretch wrapper. A stop on either side shows up at the palletizer: it waits for cases, or holds a pallet it cannot send on.

Its PLC knows a few codes: layer fault, dispenser fault, outfeed full, no cases. "Outfeed full" does not say whether the wrapper broke its film or the full pallet was not collected. So the shift report reads "palletizer, 74 minutes", and the technician goes to the wrong machine.

How do end of line stops back up the whole line?

Blocking travels backwards. The wrapper stops and the pallet positions fill. The palletizer cannot discharge, the case conveyor fills, the case packer stops, and finally the filler has nowhere to put bottles.

Each buffer buys minutes: its free space divided by the rate that feeds it. At the end of the line, count the full pallet positions times the minutes to build one pallet.

The palletizer has spare speed, so it catches up after short stops. The long stops, and the ones that start at the wrapper or the pallet store, reach the filler. See our guide to starvation and blocking.

Where do the cameras go on a palletizer?

• Layer table. Look down on the case infeed, the case turner and the forming layer. It shows a case turned wrong, a gap in the pattern or an empty infeed. On a robot cell, frame the pick conveyor.
• Pallet infeed. Frame the pallet dispenser, the slip sheet placement and the first full pallet position. It shows an empty magazine, a broken board, or a finished pallet still waiting to leave.
• Wrapper, if needed. If the stretch wrapper has no usable signal, a third view tells a film break from a pallet nobody collected.

Mount the cameras outside the guarding. Keep dock doors out of the frame: changing daylight and glare off stretch film cause errors.

Which end of line stops does the clip split apart?

The same "dispenser fault" can be a store problem or a supplier problem, and neither is a repair job. Keep the reason list short enough for one tap: our guide to operator friendly reason codes shows how.

How does each palletizer stop get a clip and a reason?

1. The stop is marked by the palletizer signal or the camera, start and end.
2. A short clip from the matching view stays with the stop as evidence.
3. The screen suggests a reason, and the operator confirms it in one tap or picks another.

The PLC stays the clock and the clip is the witness, as our computer vision and PLC comparison explains.

Worked example: which end of line stops cost a sample line money?

Sample line (illustrative numbers, not a customer): a water line with a filler at 300 bottles a minute and 12 bottles a case, so 25 cases a minute reach the palletizer. The palletizer can catch up at 30 cases a minute. A pallet holds 75 cases, one every 3 minutes. Planned production time is 450 minutes a shift.

Two full pallet positions before the wrapper give 6 minutes before a wrapper stop blocks the palletizer. The case conveyor and tables upstream give 6 more before a palletizer stop blocks the filler. Three short film breaks of 4 minutes never reached the palletizer.

The palletizer PLC logged 74 stopped minutes. The clips, confirmed by the operator, split them like this:

• Availability, all causes = (450 minus 74) / 450 = 83.6%.
• Own machine faults only = (450 minus 24) / 450 = 94.7%. So 50 of the 74 minutes were not palletizer faults.
• The 24 own minutes ended inside the 6 minute protection, so they cost no line output.
• The wrapper reel change took 16 minutes: the palletizer was blocked 16 minus 6 = 10, the filler 10 minus 6 = 4.
• The filler lost 14 minutes: 14 x 300 = 4,200 bottles, or 350 cases.
• At a contribution of $1.20 a case (or €1.20 in a euro plant): $420 a shift, or $315,000 over 750 shifts a year.

"Dispenser fault" would have sent a technician to the dispenser twice. The clips sent one stop to the pallet store and one to the supplier. The wrapper fix is a spare film reel staged before the old one runs out.

That money counts only if the line is sold out, or the lost cases cost overtime to make up. Agree that rule with your controller first.

What can a camera at the palletizer not see?

• Inside the machine: gripper vacuum, servo and drive alarms stay with the PLC.
• Past forklifts and bodies: anything in front of the lens hides the pallet for a moment.
• A new pattern, unchecked: a new pallet type or case size changes the scene.
• The cause on its own: it suggests, and the operator confirms.

How do you keep the camera on pallets, not people?

Frame the layer table and the pallet positions, not the forklift aisle. Report OEE by line and shift, never by named operator or driver. The clip defends the crew: it shows an empty magazine or a broken board, not a "slow" person.

In Germany, the works council co-determines any equipment that could monitor performance, even a camera that records nothing. Our works council approval guide covers the steps.

Where Fabrico fits

Fabrico is a computer vision enabled Manufacturing Performance Platform. OEE and light MES come first, and cameras are an add-on.

• Automatic downtime logging that keeps own stops, starved and blocked time apart.
• A camera clip as evidence for a stop, from the layer table or the pallet infeed.
• Losses priced in money and ranked, so the stop that blocks the filler rises to the top.
• A work order with its cost to the right technician, when a stop really is a breakdown.

Named result: ABB, a Fabrico customer, reports 20% less downtime. You start with a pilot on one line, with a baseline and a decision date agreed in advance. There is no free plan and there are no tiers: each plant gets a quote. See the computer vision OEE and MES page.

Frequently asked questions

Can a camera tell a palletizer fault from blocked time?

Yes, from what is in the frame when it stops. A layer that is not square points to the palletizer. A finished pallet still at the outfeed means it was blocked by the wrapper or pallet removal. The camera suggests the state, and the operator confirms it in one tap.

Why does the palletizer PLC show one code for different causes?

The PLC only sees its own sensors. "Dispenser fault" fires whether the magazine is empty or a broken board jammed it. "Outfeed full" fires whether the wrapper stopped or nobody collected the pallet. The code shows that the palletizer stopped, not where the stop started.

Does a stretch wrapper film break stop the whole line?

Only when it outlasts the buffers. The pallet positions before the wrapper absorb the first minutes, then the case conveyor and the tables upstream absorb more. On the sample line, a wrapper stop needed 12 minutes to reach the filler. Short film breaks cost nothing; the long reel change did.

Does the camera watch the forklift drivers?

It should not. Frame the pallet positions, not the aisle, and report by line and shift. The camera marks stops and keeps the clip; it does not track people. Person-level metrics are a legal risk in Germany and France, and they kill trust on the floor.

Split your end of line downtime in a demo

Bring one line and a week of its palletizer downtime log. We will split the minutes by where each stop started, and show what each one cost.

Request a demo · Contact us