Sorting, organising, palletising: INESC TEC technology paving the way to an optimised supply chain

The Institute contributed to a solution that reduces manual efforts and ensures a more flexible supply chain. This involvement was “fundamental”, stemming from the ongoing progress of the PRODUTECH R3 mobilising agenda.

It’s another step towards streamlining the operation of the supply chain. INESC TEC contributed to a solution that automatically handles the separation, organisation and palletisation of products with different weights and dimensions.

By being able to group different goods together, the solution manages to reduce manual efforts in cross-docking operations and optimise the chain’s operation; the demonstration of the CrossLog took place during a new formal meeting to present the results of PRODUTECH R3 – Mobilizing Agenda for the Production Technologies Sector for Reindustrialization.

INESC TEC’s specifications included the development of scaling systems and a multi-product mosaic generator, something “fundamental” for the solution’s efficiency, flexibility and adaptability.

“During the demonstration, we were able to observe the full operation of the solution: from the entry of the boxes on the distributor belts, their automated reading and allocation sequence on specific autonomous belts, to their collection and placement by the flexible robotic arm on the target pallet, according to the industrial pallet mosaic generator algorithm,” explained Pedro Senna, a researcher at INESC TEC.

The presentation of the CrossLog solution – with the technology company JPM leading the development process – is part of the solutions included in the consortium’s PPS “Flexible Robotic Palletising System”, and took place at the company’s premises in Vale de Cambra, featuring Sonae MC and Worten as potential target customers for the solution. The presentation session sparked interest in adapting this technology to PRODUTECH R3 partner warehouses.

Pedro Senna mentioned that the event was an important milestone in the work carried out by INESC TEC, within the scope of the PRR PRODUTECH R3 Mobilizing Agenda: “this is the first solution that has moved on ‘from the stage of pure innovation and development to the next step of industrialisation on the shop floor.” In other words, it marks the departure from a TRL testing phase to a higher level, “of effective market integration”.

The solution is the result of cooperation between INESC TEC and JPM, with the support of SONAE, SONAE MC, CATIM, PRODUTECH and Worten – the entities that welcomed the CrossLog demonstration.

The PRODUTECH R3 – Mobilizing Agenda for the Production Technologies Sector for Reindustrialization project is funded by the European Union under the NextGeneration EU programme, through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (MRR) and the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC.