Depalletising Machine Suppliers & Manufacturers

Layer depalletisers and robotic depalletisers

A depalletising machine (depalletiser) removes products from an inbound pallet and places them onto a production line conveyor — the reverse of palletising. Depalletising is used at the infeed of filling lines, bottling lines, and production lines to handle inbound pallets of empty containers (bottles, cans, jars) or other raw materials. Layer depalletisers: a layer depalletiser removes one complete layer of product at a time from the top of the pallet. The pallet is elevated layer by layer; the top layer is swept or pushed off the pallet onto a layer discharge conveyor; a layer pad dispenser removes and stacks the interlayer sheets (if present); the pallet is elevated again for the next layer. Layer depalletisers are high-speed and reliable for uniform, single-product pallets with a consistent layer pattern — the standard for high-speed beverage and food filling lines handling inbound empty bottles or cans. Output speeds of 300–1200+ containers per minute are achievable for bottle depalletising. Robotic depalletisers: a robot arm with appropriate EOAT picks containers or cases from the pallet individually or in small groups and places them on the infeed conveyor. More flexible for different pallet configurations and mixed pallets; slower than a layer depalletiser for single-product high-speed lines; increasingly used with 3D vision systems that allow the robot to detect and pick from mixed or irregular pallets without a predefined pallet pattern. Robotic depalletisers are well-suited to grocery distribution, e-commerce fulfilment, and food manufacturing where inbound pallets may contain multiple SKUs or non-uniform stacking. Pallet stretchwrap removal: inbound pallets are typically stretch-wrapped; stretch film must be removed before depalletising; automatic film cutters or manual cutting stations are integrated at the pallet infeed.

Applications and sourcing

Depalletising is an important automation step for operations handling high volumes of inbound packaged goods. Key applications: beverage bottling lines — empty glass bottles, PET bottles, cans, and kegs arriving on pallets must be depalletised before the rinser or blow moulder infeed; food filling lines — empty jars, bottles, and tins for sauces, condiments, dairy, and canned food; pharmaceutical packaging lines — empty bottles, vials, and blisters from inbound pallets; distribution centres — case depalletising for sortation and order picking. Integration considerations: depalletisers must be matched in throughput to the downstream filling or packing line; the discharge conveyor from the depalletiser must be matched in width, height, and speed to the line infeed; a accumulation table or buffer conveyor between the depalletiser and the line infeed absorbs speed differences and brief line stoppages. Empty container handling: empty glass bottles are fragile and must be handled gently; the depalletiser must include soft-touch guides and careful product handling to prevent breakage; empty PET bottles are susceptible to crushing if conveyed too slowly (back-pressure) — conveyor control is important. Key suppliers: Krones, KHS (beverage), Clevertech, Kaufman, Robovic, Beumer Group, and Chinese manufacturers for standard layer depalletisers. When sourcing, specify: container type and dimensions, pallet format and layer pattern, required output speed, whether interlayer sheets are present, integration with downstream conveyor, and whether robotic flexibility is needed for mixed SKUs.

Frequently asked questions