Bloomsburg, Pa.-based Dyco Inc., an industry leader for one-source, custom-engineered container-handling solutions, has been a valuable partner to the dairy industry for more than 30 years. Through a combination of innovation and insight, the company has achieved a proven record of reliability, service and customer satisfaction.

So it’s no surprise that one of the nation’s top dairy processors called on Dyco to help with a palletizing project.

“Dyco is known throughout the dairy industry for its quality manufacturing, use of top-grade materials and precision workmanship,” says Matt Snyder, the company’s marketing manager. “Companies choose us as their vendor partner for single equipment purchases as well as long-term solutions to on-going projects. Our latest innovation for the dairy industry unites the flexible automation of robotics and the reliability of Dyco’s palletizing equipment. We partnered with Kuka — a worldwide leader in robotics technology — to create the perfect palletizing solution for the dairy industry.”

Dyco’s integrated robotics and palletizing systems do everything, says Snyder, from sorting and stacking to pallet transport and wrapping. “Employing Dyco robotics and palletizing equipment in your dairy production facility offers you the ability to palletize products from up to four different production lines simultaneously including spot packs, tray packs and corrugated boxes,” he says.

Snyder says the robotic palletizer’s design and construction of conveyors, system controls and multi-function head tooling are completed onsite by highly-trained experts. “Without operator assistance, the robotic arm and multi function head gently lifts packaged products from conveyors and stacks them neatly onto pallets,” he says. “A pneumatic application of the multi-function tooling head can add slipsheets to the palletized product throughout the stacking process to further ensure stability and product safety.”

When pallets are stacked to their programmed height, the pallet conveyor automatically moves the completed pallet to a turntable where it is stretch wrapped for shipping. At the same time, a new pallet is rolled safely into place for the robot to continue the stacking process.

So when Guida’s Milk and Ice Cream, one of the largest independent dairies in New England and among the top 100 dairy processors in the United States, was looking for ways to improve productivity through the use of new technologies, the company turned to Dyco for a robotic palletizing solution.

“We’ve been doing business with Dyco for over 10 years. They are fantastic to work with and we are very satisfied,” says Michael Guida, chief operating officer. “When they came to us and said they were getting into robotics, we knew it would be a great marriage.”

Guida says he was amazed from day one at the efficiency of Dyco’s robotic palletizer. “It worked the first time — it was like plugging in a radio, it was that efficient,” he says. “I would recommend the robotic palletizer from Dyco to anyone looking to get into robotics. They handled our complete plastic line and they are impeccable in terms of work, service and quality.”

In fact, Guida says he has even received calls from competitors asking about Dyco and its robotic palletizer. “I told them I was very satisfied,” he says. “I even gave them their name and number!”

In most cases, Snyder says, the return on investment of the Dyco robotic palletizing system is realized in less than two years. “By adding Dyco robotics and palletizing systems to your dairy production facility, you’ll enjoy the benefits of implementing a modern, operator-free automation solution,” he says. “By incorporating Dyco equipment into your dairy manufacturing facility, you can increase efficiency and throughput while lowering your costs and better utilize your work force.” — Dyco Inc., 6951 Naus Way, Bloomsburg, Pa., 17815, phone: (570) 752-2757, fax: (570) 752-7366, e-mail: sales@dyco-inc.com, Web site: www.dyco-inc.com  m