Trays

Automated Tray Handling Systems

Trays are used throughout packaging and distribution because they provide product containment, visibility, and support while allowing products to be displayed, transported, or palletized efficiently. They may be open-top, shallow, corrugated, plastic, retail-ready, club-store style, quarter-pallet based, or used as part of a case packing, tray packing, palletizing, and stretch wrapping process.

Kaufman Engineered Systems designs, builds, and integrates automated systems for handling trays and trayed products with the speed, accuracy, and consistency required in modern production environments. Whether the application involves loading products into trays, orienting products for retail presentation, conveying filled trays, palletizing trays, or preparing tray loads for shipment, our team engineers automation around the product, tray style, pack pattern, line speed, pallet configuration, and downstream process.

Using FANUC robots, KPac robotic case and tray packing systems, custom end-of-arm tooling, engineered conveying, pallet handling, and integrated load securing systems, Kaufman helps manufacturers move trays through the end-of-line process with greater efficiency, less manual labor, and improved finished-load stability.

System utilizing KP1 full layer EOAT to palletize trays packed with cans of expanding foam sealant.

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Trays vs. cases

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Requirements for Successful Automation

Tray automation often begins before palletizing. Products may need to be picked, oriented, grouped, and placed into trays in a specific count, pattern, or presentation format. Once filled, trays may be conveyed to downstream equipment, palletized onto full or quarter pallets, stretch wrapped, staged, or moved out for storage and distribution.

That full process matters. A successful tray handling system must account for the product being packed, the tray design, the way products sit inside the tray, how the tray moves after packing, and how the final load will be stacked and secured.

Kaufman’s tray automation systems are designed around the product format, tray size, tray material, pack pattern, production rate, pallet pattern, downstream equipment, and available floor space.

Common tray applications include:

Automatic tray infeed transfer system.

Robotic tray packing
Product loading into open trays
Tray handling and positioning
Product picking, placing, and orienting
Retail-ready tray packing
Club pack and big-box display tray formats
Tray conveying and accumulation
Tray palletizing
Tray depalletizing
Quarter-pallet tray handling
Trays packed with bottles, containers, cans, pouches, bundles, or other products
Tray palletizing followed by stretch wrapping or outbound load handling

From product placement into trays to finished tray pallet loads, Kaufman designs systems that integrate smoothly into existing production lines or new end-of-line automation projects.

The Challenges of Tray Handling

Tray automation involves more than moving a tray from one station to another. The system must protect the product, maintain the tray’s structure, preserve presentation quality, control spacing and orientation, and create stable pallet loads for storage, shipment, or retail display.

Accurate Tray Loading

Open trays require precise product placement. The robot may need to pick individual products, groups of products, or multiple product formats and place them into a tray in a specific orientation, count, layer, or pattern.

If products are misplaced, skewed, or improperly grouped, the issue can affect tray appearance, downstream conveying, palletizing, wrapping, or retail presentation. Kaufman designs robotic tray packing systems to control product movement, maintain placement accuracy, and support repeatable tray loading at production speeds.

Product Orientation & Presentation

Many tray applications require products to face a specific direction, sit cleanly in the tray, or remain visible for retail display. This is especially important for club-store, big-box, and retail-ready packaging where the tray is part of the finished presentation.

Kaufman systems can be engineered to manage product orientation, grouping, and placement before the tray moves downstream. In one high-speed tray and case packing system, a FANUC Delta robot used iRVision and line tracking to orient cans before packing them into cases and trays.

Case study

Varied Tray Sizes & Shapes

Trays can vary widely in size, depth, shape, material, rigidity, and product support. Some trays are shallow and display-focused. Others are deeper, heavier, reinforced, or designed to hold irregular products. Some applications may also involve multiple tray sizes or SKU changes on the same line.

The automation system must account for tray dimensions, product fit, tray strength, tooling requirements, changeover needs, and how the filled tray will move through the rest of the system.

Handling Delicate, Irregular, or Unstable Products

Products packed into trays may be fragile, lightweight, irregularly shaped, flexible, or difficult to orient consistently. Poor handling can damage the product, compromise package appearance, or create instability once the tray is conveyed or palletized.

Kaufman engineers tray systems around the product being handled, using the right combination of robot motion, tooling, conveying, sensing, and controls to protect product quality and maintain consistent tray presentation.

Conveying, Transfers, and Tray Flow

Filled trays must move smoothly through the line after packing. Tray spacing, orientation, accumulation, transfer points, merges, diverts, and infeed presentation all affect system performance.

Kaufman integrates conveyor systems that support the full tray handling process, helping trays move reliably from packing to palletizing, depalletizing, wrapping, staging, or other downstream operations.

Palletizing and Load Stability

Tray palletizing requires careful attention to placement accuracy, stack height, pallet size, tray strength, product containment, and downstream wrapping requirements. Because trays may be open-top or display-oriented, the palletizing system must protect the product while creating a stable finished load.

For quarter-pallet, retail-ready, and club-store applications, pallet appearance and space utilization may be especially important. Kaufman designs systems that support consistent tray placement, stable pallet patterns, and efficient use of pallet space.

Our Solutions

Kaufman Engineered Systems provides more than a robot. We engineer complete tray handling systems that consider how products are received, oriented, packed into trays, conveyed, palletized, wrapped, staged, and moved through the facility.

Our systems may include:

KPac robotic case and tray packing systems
Product picking, placing, and orienting with KPic systems
Tray handling and positioning
Robotic palletizing and depalletizing
Custom end-of-arm tooling
Vacuum, clamp, fork, spatula, or hybrid handling tools
Engineered conveyor systems
Case infeed and accumulation systems
Pallet handling and load transport
Automated slip sheet, tier sheet, or top/bottom sheet placement
Stretch wrapping and load securing
Double stacking or load staging systems
Integrated controls and safety systems
System installation, training, service, and support

Every application is evaluated based on the product, Tray format, case style, production rate, footprint, pallet pattern, throughput goals, and downstream requirements. The result is a system designed to improve efficiency, protect product quality, and support long-term production demands.

Robotic Tray Packing, Palletizing, & Depalletizing

Tray applications may involve several automation stages before the finished load leaves the production area. Products may first be picked, oriented, and loaded into open trays. Filled trays may then be conveyed to a palletizing cell, stacked onto full pallets or quarter pallets, stretch wrapped, staged, double stacked, and moved out for storage or shipment.

Kaufman designs robotic systems around the full application, including product presentation, tray loading, tooling, robot selection, infeed layout, pallet pattern, stack height, safety requirements, and downstream wrapping or securing.

Benefits include:

KPac robotic cell with clamp EOAT packing bundled product into club trays in a consistent packing pattern.

Accurate product placement into trays
Consistent tray pack patterns
Better control of product orientation and presentation
Smooth transition from tray packing to palletizing
Reliable filled tray handling
Consistent pallet patterns
Improved finished-load stability
Reduced manual labor requirements
Increased throughput
Improved workplace safety
Reduced product handling damage
Better consistency across shifts
Flexibility for product, tray, pattern, or SKU changes

Custom End-of-Arm Tooling

The end-of-arm tool plays a major role in both carton loading and finished case handling. During case packing, the tool may need to pick individual products, groups of products, bags, pouches, bundles, bottles, containers, or other product formats and place them accurately into an open carton. During palletizing or depalletizing, the tool may need to handle sealed cases individually, in rows, in groups, or as part of a layer.

Kaufman designs and builds custom end-of-arm tooling in-house to match the specific requirements of each application. This allows the robot to move products and cases efficiently while maintaining placement accuracy, package integrity, and finished-load quality.

The right tooling can help accommodate:

Custom EOAT is integrated into our automatic tray-forming system to build trays before they are transported to the tray-packing, palletizing, stretch-wrapping, and labeling cells of the system.

Open tray loading
Product picking and orienting
Single-product or multi-product picks
Trays filled with bottles, cans, pouches, containers, bundles, or other products
Shallow trays or retail-ready trays
Club-store and display tray formats
Quarter-pallet tray applications
Filled trays that are lightweight or heavy
Multiple tray sizes and pallet patterns
Single-pick, multi-pick, row-pick, or layer-style handling
Applications requiring sheet picking
Operations with frequent product, tray, or SKU changes

Integrated Conveying & Load Securing

A reliable tray automation system depends on the full movement of product through the line. Product conveyors, tray handling, tray conveyors, transfers, accumulation, spacing, pallet movement, sheet placement, wrapping, and load securing all affect system performance.

Kaufman integrates the supporting equipment needed to create a complete, dependable process. This may include product infeed conveyors, tray conveyors, pallet conveyors, transfer systems, pallet dispensers, sheet placement equipment, stretch wrapping, quarter-pallet handling, dual load stackers, and other end-of-line components required to move and stabilize completed loads.

Trays on quarter pallets first get boxed at the manual station, then move to the strapping station before being transported to full pallets for stretch wrapping.

For tray applications, proper integration helps maintain production flow from robotic packing through palletizing and final load preparation. The result is a system that reduces downtime, improves consistency, protects product, and creates tray loads that are ready for storage, shipment, or retail display.

Automated Systems Working with Trays

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KPac Case Packing, KPal C XL Palletizing, and KForce Stretch Wrapping – Full VideoClick Here to Open Full Screen

KPac Cell with Clamp EOAT Packing Bundles into Club Pack TraysClick Here to Open Full Screen

KPal KP1 Palletizer for Club Pack Trays Containing Bundled ProductClick Here to Open Full Screen

KP1 Full Layer Palletizer for Trays with Bundled ProductClick Here to Open Full Screen

KPal C (XL Clamp EOAT) Tray Palletizing SystemClick Here to Open Full Screen

Automatic Tray Forming Video ShortClick Here to Open Full Screen

KPac with Custom Clamp EOAT to Pack Pouches Into Trays – Full VideoClick Here to Open Full Screen

Robotic Tray Forming, Bundle Packing, Palletizing, Wrapping – Full VideoClick Here to Open Full Screen

KPal V and S High-Speed Packing & Palletizing System for Trays and Cases – Full VideoClick Here to Open Full Screen

Why Choose Kaufman Engineered Systems

Choosing Kaufman means working with an experienced automation partner that understands the complete end-of-line process. Our team looks beyond a single machine to evaluate how products are received, oriented, packed into trays, conveyed, palletized, wrapped, and transported through the facility.

Kaufman brings together KPac robotic tray packing, FANUC robotic integration, custom tooling, conveyor design, controls, pallet handling, sheet placement, stretch wrapping, and load securing into systems built for performance, durability, and long-term reliability.

Manufacturers choose Kaufman for:

Decades of automation experience
FANUC robotic integration
KPac robotic case and tray packing systems
Custom end-of-arm tooling designed in-house
Systems engineered around product-specific requirements
Experience with trays, cases, bottles, containers, pouches, bundles, and mixed product formats
Robotic tray packing, palletizing, depalletizing, and handling capabilities
Complete end-of-line automation capabilities
Durable conveyor and material handling systems
Integrated pallet handling, sheet placement, and stretch wrapping
Improved productivity, safety, and consistency
Long-term service, training, and support

Whether you are loading products into open trays, conveying filled trays, palletizing retail-ready trays, handling quarter-pallet formats, or integrating the full process from tray packing to load securing, Kaufman can design an automation system that improves product flow and supports your operation.

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Case STudy

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