Case Study: dm achieves high-cycle, reliable pallet depalletizing with Piab DURAFLEX suction cups

dm depalletizes 3,500 pallets a day with Piab

dm, a major European drugstore chain, required a highly efficient and reliable solution for depalletizing thousands of incoming pallets daily at its distribution center. The challenge was to find suction cups robust enough to handle a high cycle frequency on various cardboard surfaces while resisting wear. The vendor Piab provided its DURAFLEX® BX52P suction cups to meet this demanding need.

Piab's solution utilized specialized suction cups made from a dual-material mix, offering both the flexibility to form a secure vacuum and the durability for long-term use. This implementation enabled fully automatic depalletizing robots to operate with maximum efficiency and reliability. As a result, dm achieved its goal of processing an average of 3,500 pallets per day within a tight 96-hour logistics window from distribution center to store. The Piab suction cups proved extremely reliable over nearly a decade of continuous operation, requiring only proactive replacement every two years with no recorded failures.

Dm

José Luis Costa Blanco

Group Leader Technology Combi Distribution Center at dm