Case Study: Bee Sweet Citrus achieves automated, flexible palletizing that boosts efficiency and reduces labor with Honeywell Intelligrated

Collaboration Results in Automated Palletizing Solution With Flexibility to Accommodate Diverse Product, Packaging Requirements

Bee Sweet Citrus, a California packer and shipper that moves about 10 million cartons of citrus a year, faced rising labor costs, safety concerns and high turnover that made manual palletizing unsustainable given its wide variety of products, packaging and pallet types. After evaluating suppliers, Bee Sweet selected Honeywell (via Honeywell Intelligrated) to deliver an automated palletizing solution built around Alvey® 910 series palletizers, integrated scanning, sortation and software to handle complex stacking patterns and traceability requirements.

Honeywell implemented a phased, integrated end-of-line system (including Accuglide accumulation, IntelliSort sliding shoe sorting and barcode-enabled controls) that models production, automates changeovers and preserves uptime during installation. The Honeywell solution now handles roughly 95% of Bee Sweet’s varieties with 27 stacking patterns, maintains a 50,000-carton-per-day throughput, cut palletizing labor from 60 to 10 employees (an 80% reduction), improved safety and shortened the expected ROI to about five to six years.

Bee Sweet Citrus

Jim Marderosian

Owner & President