Griffith Foods is a global food solutions company with over 100 years of experience, operating in more than 30 countries and 20 production plants. In Colombia, its modern facility in Marinilla, Antioquia, produces approximately 21,000 tons of food solutions annually for the Andean Region, including sauces, condiments, and customized food products. Griffith Foods is recognized as a leader in workplace culture, earning distinction as one of the best companies to work for in Colombia and Latin America.

On Line 1, the operators made 5,775 movements in 24 hours, and on Line 2 they made 5,005. Today those movements went to zero thanks to the robot. People finish less tired.

Santiago Ospina

Manager of the Griffith Foods Plant in Colombia

The Problem

The end-of-line packaging operation at Griffith Foods involved manual palletizing, which required operators to lift, twist, and stack boxes, especially in high-volume doypack lines.

Ergonomic studies utilizing confirmed that the process posed a high risk of musculoskeletal injuries due to the high volume of repetitive movements, specifically affecting the shoulders, elbows, and hips. In addition:

Multiple SKUs, varying box formats and changing pallet patterns demanded flexibility.
The plant needed a solution that could support production, improve safety, but not disrupt or reduce human employment.
Implementation needed to respect the company’s vision of combining automation with human-centred operations.

The Solution

Robotiq partnered with IGPS to install a PE10 Lean Palletizer. This integration marked a significant milestone as the first Robotiq palletizing cell implemented in Colombia. This automation reinforced the company’s commitment to employee health by immediately converting the most strenuous job into a safe, reliable, and high-capacity process.

The solution was engineered to handle complex operational demands, including synchronizing two production lines with different SKUs and configurations feeding into a single cell. The cell operates stably at 10 cycles per minute, handles 32 SKUs, and manages loads up to 12.5 kg.

ENHANCED SAFETY

The new installation immediately improved the health and well-being of the employees, eliminating daily twisting, bending, and lifting. The reduction to zero repetitive movements has translated directly into less fatigue and reduced absenteeism. Furthermore, the collaborative robot includes proximity sensors that automatically decrease the cobot's speed if an operator approaches too closely, reinforcing safety.

OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

The goal of automation was not to eliminate jobs, but to increase the plant’s capacity and free up talent. The two employees freed up from the palletizing task were reallocated to areas of greater need, allowing the plant to operate more machines simultaneously and increase overall responsiveness to customers.

BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY

The collaborative robotic cell provided Griffith Foods with immediate, measurable gains in operational productivity, capacity, and system stability. The PE10 Lean Palletizer runs consistently at 10 cycles per minute, operating in perfect synchronization with the doypack packaging machines, ensuring high efficiency without recording equipment failures.

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Palletizing

Griffith Foods successfully transformed its high-volume packaging lines by implementing the PE10 Lean Palletizing cell to address severe ergonomic risks. Avoid risking worker injury and start maximizing your end-of-line productivity. Learn how Lean Palletizing can benefit your facility today.

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Griffith Foods Colombia

10 000 Repetitive Motions

32 Different SKUs

0 Equipment failure

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