The Material Handling Blog

From orchard to market: See how advanced automation and data analytics from RH Brown, now proudly part of Bastian Solutions, transformed a fourth-generation family business. Wenatchee, Washington, may be known as the "Apple Capital of the World," but is also renowned for its bountiful sweet cherry orchards. McDougall & Sons, a fourth-generation family-owned business, has been growing, processing, and distributing cherries and other tree fruits for decades. With Washington state producing millions of pounds of cherries annually, meeting the demand for fresh and high-quality sweet cherries is no small achievement. McDougall & Sons faced the challenge of increasing processing rates, managing peak capacity, and balancing production across multiple lines. To meet the demand for customers in both domestic and export markets, they partnered with RH Brown. Their collaboration led to significant improvements through advanced material handling automation, warehouse control software, and data analytics, transforming McDougall & Sons' operations and efficiency.

For many distribution centers, unloading trailers and placing inbound product on pallets can be very labor-intensive. There are often hundreds to thousands of boxes in each trailer and these boxes can be large, heavy and hard to reach meaning most reaching, lifting and moving of boxes is done manually. Additionally, the environment inside the trailer can range from cold to extremely hot making it, at times, particularly uncomfortable. As a whole, finding and keeping labor for this essential work often presents a problem. Introducing the right automation to your palletizing operations can address labor availability challenges while also improving margins, throughput and operational flexibility.

Looking to optimize flow of cartons from two production areas and reduce overall labor requirements, Custom Apple Packers turned to RH Brown for automated sortation and palletizing solutions. We were able to design an integrated system that increased throughput to meet the customer’s requirements, while utilizing existing accumulation lanes.

Compact and scalable automation options are trending across consumer-facing markets like grocery and retail but when it comes to manufacturing, leading advanced technologies are also proving to be foundational for future growth.

Analyzing the tasks, rates and capabilities can help not only maximize the robotic system but also help reduce the need for ancillary equipment and additional investments, creating a more streamline operation.

Palletizing and depalletizing with collaborative robots just made a huge step forward. These easy-to-integrate solutions can handle a range of product sizes and styles while eliminating the need for safety fencing and requiring minimal floor space.