
Massive packaging line automation with Formaplan.
Saving money and staying competitive through large scale automation with Unchained Robotics.
Mass-market furniture manufacturing is a competitive and price-sensitive market. It is also relatively labor-intensive. In order to get a leg up on the competition and to reduce total production costs, Formaplan, a major furniture manufacturer in Germany, began looking toward automation.
Specifically automation for their packaging lines. Their use cases, however, were heavily reliant on human eyes. Boards needed to be grabbed and then placed in boxes on conveyor belts. Neither always being in exactly the same spot. Unchained Robotics was able to solve this problem with in-house machine vision software and deliver 12+ robots to Formaplan. Leading to a large reduction in production costs and relief from the ongoing labor shortage.
Company:
Industry:
Country:
Solution:
Rudolf Henrichsmeyer Formaplan GmbH
Furniture Construction
Germany
Custom Industrial Packaging Cells

Countering labor shortages with robots.
Formaplan, like many businesses in Germany and Europe today, was facing an intense labor shortage. Filling roles on the assembly line was becoming more and more expensive every year and it was starting to impact profitability and competiveness. Lots of workstations at Formaplan’s packaging line involved very repetitive, consistent work – perfect for automation.
Their search for an automation supplier led them to Unchained Robotics. Unchained offered an advanced solution for their packaging line that went a long way to addressing their labor needs and helped them maintain their competitiveness vis-à-vis international competition.
Machine Vision makes it possible.
Using machine vision, Unchained Robotics was able to automate processes that would have previously been very difficult to automate. The robots have to pick boards off of pallets and put them into boxes passing by on the conveyor belt.
The packaged boards are never in the exact same spot and the boxes also pass by at varying intervals. Unchained Robotics solved these issues by developing a machine vision-based software program that allowed the robot to grab boards with near 100% accuracy and to place them in the boxes passing by.

Saving money. Saving time.
The implementation of this solution across a large number of workstations on Formaplan’s production line allowed Formplan to more effectively utilize its human resources on the variety of other processes that are not yet automatable. The Unchained Robotics solutions saved Formplan money and have help them to reach their production cost goals.

Company Profile
Rudolf Henrichsmeyer Formaplan GmbH & Co. KG, based in Hövelhof, Germany, specializes in the production of furniture components and flat-pack furniture. Founded in 2014, the company operates on a 135,000 square meter facility and is part of the Henrichsmeyer Group, which has 90 years of experience in international furniture manufacturing.
Formaplan is particularly known for producing up to 160,000 drawers daily, alongside 60,000 furniture parts and 50,000 packages. It employs 350-360 staff members and has been a strategic partner for IKEA since 2002. The company uses advanced technology to produce furniture components, drawer systems, and complete flat-pack furniture. With a focus on flexibility, innovation, and sustainability, Formaplan is a trusted partner in the furniture industry.