Custom Foods
Robotic palletizing below freezing at a food plant in De Soto, Kansas, engineered for cold storage.
Resources / Case Studies
End-of-line automation case studies: Palletizing, case packing and conveying in production.
Real TRF projects in palletizing, case packing and conveying, and what each plant needed.
End-of-line automation case studies from TRF Industrial Automation show palletizing, case packing and conveyor systems running in real plants. Three are published: Custom Foods, Lodge Cast Iron and Avon.
Custom engineering
Solutions engineered for your production requirements.
Turnkey integration
From system design through installation and startup.
High reliability
Built for continuous operation.
U.S. support
Technical support for customers across the United States.
Lifecycle support
From startup to long-term performance.
Case studies by line constraint
The table shows the problem each plant faced, what TRF supplied and where to read more.
| Case study | Main constraint | What TRF supplied | Related pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Foods | Freezing conditions affecting end-of-line performance, productivity and workforce efficiency | A robotic palletizing system engineered for cold storage | TRFSubzero, frozen food and ice cream |
| Lodge Cast Iron | Labor-intensive packing lines that backed up, with heavy cases handled by hand | Tailor-made ergonomic manual case packing and fully automatic robotic palletizing | Case packing, robotic palletizing |
| Avon | Accuracy of internal material flow across a wide product mix | Conveying, case handling and vertical transport as one flow | TRFIntraflow, end-of-line integration |
What the customers report
People come first in the results the customers report. Custom Foods reports better operator safety and ergonomics, Lodge Cast Iron reports less physical stress on its operators, and Avon names employee safety as the main aim of its solution.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Can a Robotic Palletizer Operate Below Freezing (32°F)?
Yes, when the cell is engineered for the cold. TRFSubzero is the TRF platform for palletizing in areas below 32°F, for frozen food, ice cream and refrigerated or frozen areas. The Custom Foods case study documents a robotic palletizing system engineered for cold storage, with reported gains in end-of-line throughput, stable operation regardless of temperature and better operator safety and ergonomics.
Can One Automation Partner Supply Palletizing, Case Packing and Conveyors?
Yes. TRF engineers palletizing, case packing and conveying as one end-of-line system, supported from Lenexa, Kansas. The Lodge Cast Iron case shows an ergonomic case packing station and robotic palletizing scoped as a single project, and the Avon case shows conveying, case handling and vertical transport engineered as one material flow.
What Is the Typical Payback Period for a Robotic Palletizer?
Payback depends on the labor hours the palletizer replaces, shifts per day, local labor cost and the installed cost of the system, so another plant's result does not transfer to yours. A case study shows that an application class is solved; the palletizing ROI calculator gives an initial estimate from your own data, and a TRF Sales Engineer completes it.
Where Can I See TRF Equipment Running?
At PACK EXPO International 2026, October 18 to 21 at McCormick Place in Chicago, booth N-5660. The trade shows and events page has the details, and a TRF Sales Engineer can tell you which of the three installations is closest to your line.
How Do I Find the Case Study Closest to My Line?
Start from the product you handle and the problem you want solved: below-freezing palletizing points to Custom Foods, a packing station that needs ergonomic handling plus palletizing points to Lodge Cast Iron, and conveying, case handling and vertical transport as one flow points to Avon. A Sales Engineer can walk you through the one that fits.
Next step: Turn a case study into a specification
If one of these cases describes a line that looks like yours, send case dimensions and weights, line speed, shift pattern and a sketch of the area, and a TRF Sales Engineer validates the fit.
Next step
Keep your production running.
Tell us about your products, rates and floor space. A TRF Sales Engineer answers with the platform, the layout and the next step for your line.