Palletizers in Houston, TX — Conventional Speed or Robotic Flexibility, We'll Fit the Right One
Boxes or bags, round or rectangular — Lone Star can supply the means to convey and palletize your products. Conventional or robotic, semi-automatic or automatic, pull-sheets or pallets: every palletizer shares one goal, stacking cases, bags, and other units in a uniform pattern — with patterns easily modified via an HMI.
Three Automation Methods — Each Right for a Specific Application
There are three main types of palletizing methods using automation: conventional, articulating-arm robotic, and gantry robotic. The difference in their designs provides that the strong suit of conventional palletizers is speed while robotic is flexibility.
Conventional palletizers cover a broader range of speeds — anywhere from 10 to 200 cases per minute. Articulating-arm pick-and-place robots are often the right choice for lower-volume, multi-SKU operations, building up to four pallets from four different product lines simultaneously. Gantry automation handles multiple products at aggressive throughput rates, with a footprint that can be expansive or compact depending on your needs.
Lone Star can help determine which solution is the right fit for your application — and integrate it with the pallet conveyor, stretch wrapper, and controls around it.
Five Machine Families We Supply & Integrate
Conventional Palletizers
Numerous configurations: side entry or inline, floor-level or high-level infeed, right or left hand. Typically, the higher the case rate, the larger the machine footprint. Designs have moved away from hydraulic units to electrics and pneumatics.
Hybrid Palletizers
A hybrid combines the basic flexibility of a robotic palletizer with the simplicity and maintainability of a conventional machine — industry-standard components such as PLCs throughout. A fully automated palletizer, including infeed conveying, pallet dispensing and handling, and slip sheet handling, that in most instances costs less than a basic robot arm.
Robotic Articulating Arm
Designed to function in low ceilings and limited workspace, maximizing the working envelope — essential for companies looking to maximize space and minimize time and labor costs.
Gantry Palletizers
Similar to a very precise crane: two beams support a moving bridge whose carriage carries a vertically moveable rigid beam with an end effector. Gantries operate over large work spaces, perform many tasks in that envelope, and position units to a high degree of accuracy — payload capacity can be thousands of pounds.
Bulk Palletizers
Designed primarily for the needs of the PET bottling industry, offering high-level and low-level options as well as automatic or semi-automatic models.
Which Palletizer Fits Your Line?
| Factor | Conventional | Hybrid | Robotic Arm | Gantry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong suit | Speed | Cost + flexibility | Flexibility | Envelope & payload |
| Rate | 10–200 CPM | Fully automated | Lower volume | Aggressive throughput |
| Best for | High-rate single lines | Budget-minded automation | Multi-SKU, up to 4 lines at once | Multiple products, heavy loads |
| Footprint | Grows with rate | Compact cell | Low ceilings, tight spaces | Expansive or compact |
| Payload | Cases & bags | Cases & bags | Multiple package types | Up to thousands of pounds |
Every palletizer needs what surrounds it: pallet conveyor at discharge, a stretch wrapper downstream, case packing upstream, and one controls package over the cell. That's the integration we quote as a system.
Palletizer FAQs
What are the main types of automated palletizers?
Three main automation methods — conventional, articulating-arm robotic, and gantry robotic — each right for a specific application, plus hybrids (robotic flexibility, conventional maintainability) and bulk palletizers for PET bottling. All share one goal: stacking cases, bags, and units in a uniform pattern, with patterns modified easily via HMI.
Conventional vs. robotic — which should I choose?
Conventional's strong suit is speed (10–200 CPM); robotic's is flexibility. Arms suit lower-volume multi-SKU operations — building up to four pallets from four lines simultaneously. We'll help determine which fits your application.
What is a hybrid palletizer?
Robotic flexibility plus conventional simplicity, built on industry-standard PLCs — fully automated including infeed conveying, pallet dispensing and handling, and slip sheet handling, usually for less than the cost of a basic robot arm.
How fast can a palletizer run?
Conventional machines run 10–200 cases per minute (footprint grows with rate). High-level bulk palletizers for PET reach up to 40,000 bottles per hour.
What is a bulk palletizer?
A machine that palletizes empty PET bottles in full layers. Low-level models eliminate stairs and platforms, prevent downed bottles and voids, and serve two blow molders; high-level models use row-forming, servo gates, multi-lane drop onto a vacuum table, and stabilizing-bar layer capture.
Do you install palletizers in Houston?
Yes — supplied, installed, and integrated with conveyor, wrapping, and controls throughout Houston, the Gulf Coast, and all of Texas. Call 713-532-4444 and we'll help determine the right fit.
Palletizing System Design & Installation Across Texas
Lone Star Automated Systems is headquartered at 2500 Citywest Blvd., STE 150, Houston, TX 77042 and serves food and beverage plants, consumer products manufacturers, and distribution operations throughout the Gulf Coast and statewide.
Ready to Automate Your Palletizing?
Boxes or bags, round or rectangular — tell us your products, rates, and floor space, and we'll help determine which solution is the right fit for your application.
713-532-4444