Food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods manufacturers seeking end-of-line automation within tight production footprints gained a new hardware option this week as Kawasaki Robotics (USA), Inc. unveiled the CP110L high-speed palletizing robot for the North American market. The unit makes its regional debut at PACK EXPO International 2026, running October 18–21 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

The Specifications

The CP110L carries a 110-kg payload and reaches a maximum of 2,505 mm, while requiring a ceiling height of only 2,242 mm — a dimension that matters on older plant floors where overhead clearance is fixed. Under specified operating conditions the robot processes up to 2,200 cases per hour, with four controlled axes and ±0.05-mm repeatability. Its revolute-axis interference radius of 453 mm gives system integrators room to design compact palletizing cells around the unit. At 820 kg, the robot sits at the lower end of Kawasaki's CP Series lineup, which now spans payloads from 110 to 700 kg.

Two design choices are aimed squarely at total-cost-of-ownership. A hollow wrist routes cables and hoses internally, reducing interference with adjacent equipment and cutting installation time. A standard power-regeneration function recaptures energy produced during deceleration and converts it to reusable electricity — a meaningful efficiency gain in palletizing cycles dominated by repetitive vertical movement.

Market Context

The launch lands against a backdrop of accelerating automation investment in food and beverage packaging. PMMI's 2026 Robotics in Packaging & Processing report found that 61% of end users surveyed plan to increase robotics spending over the next 12 months. Labor costs, throughput targets, and the need to reduce changeover time are the primary drivers, according to industry surveys — pressures that are particularly acute at the end-of-line, where manual palletizing remains widespread at mid-sized food and beverage plants.

"Palletizing is often one of the clearest places for manufacturers to automate, but the available space at the end of the line doesn't always match the automation they want to install," said Paul Marcovecchio, Director GI Industries at Kawasaki Robotics (USA), Inc. "The CP110L was developed around that reality. It gives customers another way to increase palletizing capacity without assuming they have unlimited floor space or ceiling height."

What Else Is on the Show Floor

Beyond the CP110L, Kawasaki is presenting two additional automation configurations at Booth N-5933 that are relevant to food and CPG manufacturers. An R Series case-packing cell — designed by Design For Making around Kawasaki's RS013N robot — features a 13-kg payload and 1,460-mm reach, with an HMI built for straightforward operator interaction and provisions to add vision, additional tooling, and safety systems as volumes grow.

The company will also show an IRIS RPZ-U palletizing system, built by IRIS Factory Automation around the RS025N robot (25-kg payload, 1,885-mm reach). The turnkey platform is designed to integrate into existing operations without requiring a full line redesign — a common requirement for beverage and dry-goods facilities running mixed SKU formats.

The breadth of the demonstration lineup reflects a broader commercial positioning: offering food and CPG manufacturers multiple entry points to end-of-line automation, from compact case-packing cells to high-throughput palletizing, depending on application, budget, and available floor space. For operators and plant engineers evaluating automation at packaging and processing trade events, the CP110L's combination of throughput and spatial efficiency positions it as a practical option across a range of food manufacturing environments. Coverage of related end-of-line robotics trends in food and beverage continues to expand as investment in the category accelerates.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.