Answer from AI Robotics Australasia. .
What the money is actually for
Budget for the arm, the gripper, infeed conveyors, pallet locations or a dispenser, slip sheets if you use them, safety guarding or scanners, pattern software, installation, and commissioning. Stretch wrapping is its own machine. Leaving it out of the first number is how projects blow up in month four.
Case weight and rate move the design from a cobot to an industrial arm. That single change pulls fencing, a larger gripper, and a different safety concept with it. Two quotes that both say 'palletising robot' can be different machines.
What pushes a quote up
Many SKUs, unstable cases, a gripper change between products, a tight footprint, cold-room duty, and a line that must keep running while pallets are changed. Each one is engineering, not a catalogue option with a fixed sticker.
What pushes it down is a short pattern list, one case format, a tolerant rate, and space to stage pallets without a complicated dispenser. Simplifying the product set is often worth more than negotiating the arm.
How to get a number you can use
Bring the case sizes and weights, the sustained rate, the pattern photos, the hours per week, and a layout of the end of the line. A budgetary band can be given from that. A fixed scope cannot, until the gripper and the infeed are confirmed.
AI Robotics prices the cell after that assessment. Use the bands above to see whether the project is even in the right order of magnitude. Do not use them as a purchase price.
Related questions
How much does a cobot palletiser cost?
A light case-palletising cell built around a cobot is often quoted from the low hundreds of thousands in local currency once conveyors, safety, and commissioning are included. The arm alone is not the cell. Heavy cases and high rates leave this band.
Why do palletising robot quotes vary so much?
Because the arm is not the project. Rate, case weight, number of patterns, conveyors, pallet handling, wrapping, and guarding change the design. Two plants palletising 'boxes' can need completely different cells.
Is a palletising robot cheaper than labour?
It can be, when the line runs enough hours and the loaded labour cost of lifting is real. It is not cheaper than a casual crew you only need one week a month. Compare against the hours the cell will actually run.
What does a palletising robot quote need from us?
Case dimensions and weight, sustained cases per minute, the pattern list, hours per week, and a sketch of the space, including how full pallets leave. Without the rate and the case, any number is a guess.