January Announcement

Mixed Case Deployment with Delta Tech

9 min read•January 1, 2026

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Automating a High-Risk Bottleneck: On-the-Fly Mixed-Case Palletizing at a Defense Manufacturer

How a defense manufacturer partnered with Delta Technology and Jacobi Robotics to turn chaotic, injury-prone manual pallet building into a predictable automated operation—running in production on a FANUC industrial robot.

AT A GLANCE

  • Workflow: fully random, real-time mixed-case palletizing (no sequencing, no pre-planning) that builds in real time
  • Deployed by: Delta Technology
  • Powered by: Jacobi Robotics' OmniPalletizer
  • Robot: FANUC M-710iC/45M
  • Status: live production operation, commissioned Q4 2025

The Workflow:
Fully Random, Real-Time Parcel Palletizing

This manufacturer operates a true make-to-order fulfillment workflow, building parcel pallets for freight carriers.
Customer orders are continuously accepted, packaged, and released downstream. Cases arrive to be palletized in completely random order, reflecting live demand, not pre-built waves or optimized sequences. There is:
  • No opportunity to pre-plan pallet composition
  • No fixing recipes defining what's next
Pallets must be built on the fly, in real time, as cases arrive, while still meeting stability, safety, and shipping requirements, including boxes up to 50 lbs.
This kind of randomness is common in parcel shipping, and exactly where traditional palletizing automation struggles most.

What is mixed-case palletizing?

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Mixed-case palletizing is building stable outbound pallets from random, unsequenced cases—without predefined recipes or advance knowledge of what comes next.

It’s the dock-edge problem most warehouses still do by hand.

The Problem:
Manual Palletizing and Rising Injury Risk

At the dock edge, this real-time variability translated directly into manual labor. Operators were continuously lifting, twisting, and repositioning mixed cases to build outbound pallets. Over time, this led to:
  • Elevated injury risk from repetitive and awkward motion
  • Increasing difficulty staffing palletizing roles
  • A clear safety gap at the final step of an otherwise automated operation
For a manufacturer in the defense industry, this was unacceptable. The decision was clear: remove people from the most injury-prone task without sacrificing flexibility or throughput.
Warehouse workers managing mixed-case palletizing operation

The Solution:
Automating Mixed-Case Palletizing for Live Case Flow

To solve the problem, the manufacturer partnered with Delta Technology to deploy a robotic mixed-case palletizing cell powered by Jacobi Robotics’ OmniPalletizer and a FANUC industrial robot.
Two design choices are what made this viable in a live environment:

1) Fits the existing operation — no sequencing required

Instead of demanding upstream buffers, perfect flow, or a greenfield redesign, the cell drops into existing conveyor lanes and works with the case flow the building actually produces. This is the core "brownfield-native" premise: upgrade the workflow, not the building, including supporting dozens of SKUs in daily operation (with no SKU limit in OmniPalletizer).

2) Real-time planning for unsequenced case flow

OmniPalletizer continuously decides where the next case should go and how to place it safely when the stream is unpredictable. This is the "holy-grail" problem the industry has discussed for years: building stable mixed pallets under real constraints, not controlled lab conditions.
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Mixed-case palletizing is one of the most injury-prone jobs in the warehouse, especially in outbound environments where variability is the norm. Our goal is to remove people from repetitive, high-risk palletizing work without forcing customers or integrators to redesign their entire operation. This deployment shows that you can automate mixed-case palletizing safely, flexibly, and in a way that actually fits real production.

Max Cao

Max Cao

Co-founder and CEO at Jacobi Robotics

Delta Technology mixed-case palletizing cell powered by Jacobi Robotics' OmniPalletizer

Why This Mattered to the Integrator

For integrators, mixed-case palletizing has traditionally been impossible to automate, leaving SKUs on the table. Only under narrowly defined conditions, with constrained case flows, rule-heavy logic, extended commissioning, and extensive upkeep, were such projects attempted.
With Jacobi, Delta Technology was able to:
  • Validate performance upfront using simulation rather than trial-and-error, with 0% error between simulated and actual cycle time
  • Avoid brittle, rule-heavy palletizing logic
  • Deliver a system that behaved predictably under real order fulfillment variability
  • Treat mixed-case palletizing as a reusable subsystem, not a bespoke science project
  • Reduce commissioning time and project risk, including a 2-week commissioning duration
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From an integrator standpoint, mixed-case palletizing is traditionally where projects get complicated and risky. Using Jacobi allowed us to validate performance upfront, avoid brittle custom logic, and deliver a system that worked as expected from day one. It's a much more repeatable way to deploy mixed-case palletizing for parcel operations.

Larry Miller

Larry Miller

Co-founder and COO at Delta Technology

For system integrators, this approach turns mixed-case palletizing from a one-off engineering challenge into a repeatable, scalable solution. This is also why Jacobi's channel posture matters: integrators keep control of cell hardware, PLCs, and delivery, while Jacobi's OmniPalletizer provides the software "brain" that makes the mixed-case problem commercially viable.

Inside the OmniPalletizer

This deployment highlights the full Jacobi mixed-case palletizing stack, from hardware to software to live operation.

1. The Mixed-Case Palletizing Cell

A modular robotic cell built around an industrial FANUC robot, designed to integrate directly into existing outbound lines without requiring warehouse redesign, building two destination pallets configurable by load carrier.

2. The Operator Interface (HMI)

An intuitive HMI that enables operators to:
  • Monitor pallet builds in real time
  • Handle exceptions without engineering support
  • Keep production running through shifts and demand spikes
Operator training time is less than one day.

3. Mixed-Case Palletizing in Action

A real-time view of the robot dynamically building mixed pallets from random case flow, adapting continuously as orders are processed, achieving 100% stability on all pallets and up to 90% cube utilization—outperforming human stacking.
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The real breakthrough here is that the system doesn't rely on predefined pallet recipes or advance knowledge of the order. We're planning and validating every placement in real time, using physics-aware motion planning and continuous feedback, so the robot can make safe, stable decisions even when case flow is completely random. That's what allows this cell to work reliably in live parcel palletizing operations instead of controlled lab conditions.

Yahav Avigal

Yahav Avigal

Co-Founder and CTO of Jacobi Robotics

The Outcome

  • Operators removed from repetitive, high-risk palletizing tasks
  • Improved safety at the dock edge
  • Successful automation of fully random, real-time parcel palletizing, handling thousands of cases per day
  • Faster deployment with lower integration risk, including a 2-week commissioning duration and 1:1 relationship between simulated and actual cycle time
  • A scalable solution ready for future expansion, with dozens of SKUs in daily operation (and no limit on number of SKUs supported), boxes up to 60 lbs, and 2 destination pallets configurable by load carrier
  • 100% stability on all pallets
  • Up to 90% cube utilization—outperforming human stacking
  • Operator training time less than one day

Mixed-case palletizing is no longer a niche demo capability. This deployment demonstrates a production-ready path to converting chaotic manual case handling into predictable automated operations—inside real brownfield constraints.