But Can They Appreciate Mozart?

by Steve Ostrofsky

Danger Will Robinson!

In this year of heavy cost burdens, some newspapers want robots to help carry the load. Specifically, several production experts are testing robot-based systems to place bundles onto pallets. Their hope: to cut costs in the mailroom, an area that is traditionally labor intensive and subject to heavy worker's compensation claims.

Unlike mechanical palletizers, which slide bundles onto pallets from conveyor tables and belts (sometimes jumbling them in the process), robotic arms pick up one to four bundles at a time and load them on pallets as would a human worker. Robots can place bundles at programmable heights, distances and orientations, enabling a wide variety of stack heights, patterns and layer counts. This flexibility also allows robots to handle both newspaper and insert bundles, and place them either on pallets or in carts.

While new to the newspaper industry, robots have been loading pallets in commercial printing and other industries since the early '80s. Initial attempts to adapt the technology to newspapers, however, ran into problems with bundle weight and speed--the equipment couldn't move quickly enough to keep up with the press.

The situation is changing. Several vendors have developed robotic systems designed to handle newspaper load and speed requirements, and newspapers are starting to pay attention.

The Washington Post has made the firmest commitment to robotics, contracting with Machine Design Inc. to install a robotic palletizer this spring. According to Machine Design's Marketing Director Greg Greenen, the system will orient bundles, pass them to the arm, load the pallet and move the loaded pallet from the station. It can load either carts or pallets, and can place a slip sheet between layers. Greenen projects rates of about 35 bundles per minute.

At the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Special Projects Manager Harley Vaughan confirms that the new generation of robots is faster and more precise than its predecessors and can carry the necessary weight. Production Director Mike Stern of Syracuse Newspapers has been working with Roskam Automatic Machinery, which has been producing robotic palletizers for the commercial printing industry for years. Bob Kotwasinski, production director at Phoenix Newspapers, is talking to Machine Design and Fanuc, among other vendors.

Continuing cost pressures, combined with the success of robotic pallet loaders at commercial printers, make this technology worth considering. Many newspapers will be looking at the success of the first installations of automation when planning the future of their mailrooms.

Steve Ostrofsky is president of Publishing Productivity Systems, Denver. E-mail, stevevelo@aol.com; phone (303) 733-5268.