When Integrated Packaging Machinery (IPM) sought to transition their customer’s multi-SKU kit line from manual to automated depalletizing, they turned to Mujin for a solution. The overall challenge was clear: implement a system that could intelligently depalletize randomly stacked cases while incorporating IPM’s project initiatives of 24/7 uptime, high throughput, and reduced reliance on human intervention.  

Mujin Intelligence and vision innovatively harnessed IPM’s preferred components like KUKA robot arms, Allen Bradley PLCs, Anubis 3D grippers, pallet conveyor, and pallet stackers to meet these demands and deliver an industry hardened solution to the customer. Mujin’s no-code deployment, digital twin, and comprehensive platform for orchestrating all those disparate components saved time and effort for IPM and mitigated the typical headaches onsite.

IPM needed an industrial automation solution capable of automatically removing boxes from pallets with precision and reliability. Key requirements included:

These challenges required a partner with deep robotics expertise and flexible, hardware-agnostic technology — Mujin’s core competencies.

At the core of the project was the MujinController platform. Known for its hardware-agnostic capabilities, this pioneering technology enables seamless operability with the KUKA robot arms and integration with IPM’s industry-standard PLCs.

This interoperability ensured:

Mujin’s collaboration with IPM was characterized by a seamless integration process with integration components that were familiar to IPM and their customer. As Reid Tomasik, IPM Project Manager, noted, “All of our e-stops and everything, safety-wise, were compatible with Mujin. Integration of their platform with our (Allen Bradley) PLCs allowed us to jump right in and connect line control communications with the downstream packaging line, as well as our safety signals.”

The compatibility of the MujinController platform with commonly integrated hardware enabled IPM to deliver a system that met their rigorous integration standards and, in turn, the customer’s high expectations for reliability and performance.

The MujinController platform drastically reduced the time required for design, testing, and deployment of motion-control and vision systems. By simplifying the complex tasks on a single platform, IPM engineers were able to deliver on their reputation for polished solutions. The result was an efficient integration that not only saved time but also minimized project costs.

The end result was a fully automated depalletizing system that achieved:

Reflecting on the collaboration, Tomasik emphasized the benefits: “Being able to have it compatible with the downstream packaging lines allows us to have that consistent uptime guarantee with the customer and get product out the door in a reliable manner.”

This project highlights Mujin Intelligence’s ability to solve complex challenges for integrators like IPM. With the MujinController platform, you are partnering with a company with deep expertise in robotics, and a focus on providing saved time and costs to integrator partners. Mujin stands out as the provider of choice for faster, more intelligent automation solutions for integrators. Mujin empowers the industry to achieve and implement greater flexibility, uptime, and recoverability for their end users, who just need their systems to work.