Egg Packaging Automation and Robotic Palletising for DA Hall & Co
Updated: 4 days ago
Fibre King designed and delivered an integrated egg packaging automation system for DA Hall & Co’s production facility in Millmerran, Queensland. Combining high-level conveying, carton distribution, robotic palletising and automated pallet handling, the turnkey solution helped the business increase throughput, reduce manual handling and move from a seven-day production schedule to a five-day working week.
Delivered in two carefully planned phases, the project integrated new equipment with DA Hall & Co’s existing machinery while working around limited floor space and short installation windows.
About DA Hall & Co
Established in 1958, DA Hall & Co is a privately owned Australian agribusiness with operations spanning egg production, pig production, stockfeed milling and cereal cropping.
Continued growth created the need to upgrade the company’s egg production facility at Millmerran. The facility had to bring together output from two egg-grading machines, manage a wide variety of products and deliver the required volume to a central palletising area.
The project included several significant operational challenges:
Limited space within the existing building
Integration of existing and new production equipment
Output from two egg-grading systems
Fragile products packed in cartons weighing up to 10 kilograms
Multiple egg varieties, sizes and market requirements
Approximately 131 carton configurations
A requirement to palletise products onto a standard CHEP pallet
Restricted installation windows
The need to maintain production during the upgrade
The system also needed to handle products gently while achieving the throughput required by the upgraded facility.
Designing the Egg Packaging Automation System
Fibre King used 3D modelling and full-line simulation to develop a system around the existing building, production machinery and access constraints.
The digital model allowed DA Hall & Co to visualise the proposed layout and understand how the equipment would operate before manufacturing and installation began. It also helped the project team identify potential clashes, confirm conveyor routes and coordinate equipment supplied by several specialist manufacturers.
Fibre King’s scope included:
System design and 3D modelling
Full-line simulation
Mechanical, electrical and software engineering
Conveyor and palletising system integration
Coordination with local and international equipment suppliers
Project management
Installation and commissioning
Operator training
This coordinated approach provided DA Hall & Co with a single point of responsibility across the wider automation project.
Phase One: Combining Two Egg-Grading Lines
The first phase focused on merging cartons from DA Hall & Co’s existing MOBA egg grader with output from a new grading machine.
A high-level conveyor system, incorporating spiral elevators and lowerators, transports cartons from the two graders through the facility. Merging and product-gapping equipment regulates carton flow before distributing products to four new fixed-size case tapers and an existing random-size taping machine.
After taping, the cartons merge onto a single conveyor for delivery to the palletising area.
Fibre King completed the critical Phase One installation work within a window of less than 24 hours. This allowed the facility to resume production quickly and achieve improved taping efficiency while manual palletising remained in place during the transition.
Phase Two: Robotic Palletising and Pallet Handling
The second phase introduced automated carton distribution, three robotic palletising cells and an integrated pallet-handling system.
An Intralox DARB conveyor was initially installed as a bypass, enabling the first-stage conveying system to remain operational until the robotic palletising system was ready to go live.
Fibre King then installed:
Distribution conveyors
Three ABB robotic palletising cells
Purpose-designed robot grippers
Automated pallet handling
A pallet shuttle outfeed system
Integration with the downstream FROMM stretch wrapper
The robotic cells were commissioned sequentially. This staged process gradually transferred production away from manual palletising while helping the facility maintain output during installation and commissioning.
Once fully operational, the robots managed the primary product range, with the existing manual area retained for overflow products and additional stock-keeping units when required.
Managing Multiple Products and Carton Formats
One of the project’s most complex requirements was managing the variety of products produced at the Millmerran facility.
DA Hall & Co handles several egg categories, including caged, free-range, organic, pasture-raised and open-range products. The facility also processes different egg sizes and packaging formats for domestic and export markets.
Across these combinations, the system needed to accommodate approximately 131 carton types while producing stable loads on a standard CHEP pallet.
The conveying and control system directs each carton to the appropriate destination, while the robotic palletising cells apply the correct handling and pallet pattern for the selected product. This allows the facility to manage product complexity without relying on continuous manual sorting and palletising.
Gentle Handling for a Delicate Product
Although each completed carton can weigh up to 10 kilograms, its contents require careful handling.
The system therefore had to combine the speed and consistency of industrial automation with controlled carton movement. Conveyor transitions, product spacing, robot movements and gripper design were engineered to handle the cases reliably while protecting the eggs inside.
Purpose-designed grippers enable the robots to pick and place the cartons accurately, supporting consistent pallet formation across the selected product range.
Increasing Production Capacity
Combining two grading machines within one building gave DA Hall & Co the capacity to pack up to 306,000 eggs per hour. Manual palletising could not sustainably keep pace with output at that scale.
The integrated conveying and robotic palletising system enables cartons to move from both grading lines to a central automated palletising area at the required production rate.
According to DA Hall & Co, the completed system allowed the business to increase production targets while reducing its operating schedule from seven days per week to five. This created benefits beyond throughput, including improved workforce scheduling and stronger long-term operating capacity.
Reducing Manual Handling
Before automation, employees were manually palletising between 15,000 and 20,000 cartons on a typical production day. Repeatedly lifting cartons weighing up to 10 kilograms created a significant physical workload.
The new robotic palletising system removed the primary manual handling task from the automated product flow. Employees could instead focus on operating the line, monitoring production and managing exceptions.
This change reduced exposure to repetitive lifting while allowing the facility to process higher volumes more consistently.
User-Friendly Controls and Operator Training
DA Hall & Co has a diverse workforce, so the equipment needed to be straightforward to understand and operate.
Fibre King developed user-friendly interfaces that allow trained operators to select products, manage the robotic cells and make routine production changes. Hands-on training supported employees as they transitioned from manual palletising to operating automated equipment.
Within several days, operators were confidently changing products and managing robot positions through the interface. The technology gave team members new technical skills while making the system accessible to employees with different levels of automation experience.
Coordinating a Multi-Supplier Automation Project
The project brought together specialised equipment from multiple suppliers:
ABB robotic palletising equipment
Intralox conveyor technology
AmbaFlex spiral conveyors
Insignia labelling and coding equipment
Robot grippers and pallet shuttle equipment from Track Automation
FROMM stretch-wrapping and case-taping equipment
MOBA egg-grading machinery
Fibre King coordinated the mechanical, electrical and software integration required to make these systems operate as one production line.
Careful project management was particularly important because the upgrade had to be completed in stages, within restricted shutdown periods and without unnecessarily disrupting DA Hall & Co’s production schedule.
Project Outcomes
The completed egg packaging automation system delivered several important operational benefits:
Increased production capacity
Automated carton flow from two egg graders
Robotic handling of the primary product range
Reduced repetitive manual lifting
Gentle handling of fragile packaged products
Support for approximately 131 carton configurations
Consistent pallet formation
User-friendly controls for production employees
Integration of equipment from several specialist suppliers
A reduction from seven operating days to a five-day working week
The project demonstrates how carefully planned conveying and robotic palletising can transform a complex food production environment—even when space, installation time and product variety present significant constraints.
Planning an Egg Packaging or Palletising Project?
Fibre King designs and integrates conveying, robotic palletising and end-of-line packaging systems for Australian food manufacturers.
Every solution is engineered around the products being handled, required throughput, packaging formats, existing equipment and available floor space. From initial modelling and simulation through to installation, commissioning and training, Fibre King provides one point of responsibility across the automation project.
Explore our packaging machinery solutions further:
Palletising systems - We offer a comprehensive range of palletising systems designed to suit different production speeds, layouts, size constraints and operational requirements
Conveying Solutions - Conveying systems for all FMCG manufacturing applications
Robotic palletisers - Our robotic palletising solutions combine advanced robotic technology with intelligent product handling, conveying and pallet management systems to deliver accurate and repeatable pallet formation across a wide range of production applications.
Food industry page - for more information on our Food Production Automation & End-of-Line Packaging solutions
Speak with Fibre King’s automation specialists about your production requirements and site constraints.
