CHICAGO—BeRobox, which develops palletizing technologies for manufacturers, showcased two palletizers at PACK EXPO International 2026 here with features the company said prioritize safety, accessibility, and competitive pricing amid stressors such as overseas competition, tariffs, and workforce shortages.

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The company debuted its new PALTZ.CS25 collaborative palletizer, which features a zone scanner safety module it developed with partner Sonair, for speed monitoring, multipack capabilities, and palletizing software.

BeRobox is releasing its new palletizers as manufacturers continue to face challenges such as workforce shortages, global tariff spikes, and increased safety concerns. These issues, company officials said, were taken into account when the firm designed its products.  

"What we've developed is a device that's installed on the end of [the] arm tool, where the danger is. You know this is the moving part, and it sees all around the end of [the] arm tool," David Demers, founder and CEO of beRobox, told Smart Industry at PACK EXPO.  

The safety features of the zone scanner, combined with the company's palletizing technologies, allow the robot to operate at full speed whenever a work area is clear but reduces speed when an operator enters the area. 

"The conventional way would be to use either fences or conventional zone scanners or area scanners ... every time you would cross the safety area, you would need to go back at the front screen and restart the robot. In this case, because it sees what's going on around it, it starts back by itself," Demers said.  

The palletizer is programmable with an interface that Demers said is designed for accessibility, with intuitive capabilities that require little training to program. This is designed so operators and factory floor workers can access and use the technology more easily. The interface does not contain any AI capabilities, also for this reason, Demers said.  

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No AI also means the technology isn't subject to the cybersecurity concerns that the use of agents brings. Manufacturers are top targets of ransomware attacks, for example, and one recent study warned that ungoverned agentic AI risks are compounding as less than half of organizations are using governance frameworks that cover elements of AI agent deployments.   

Tariffs and overseas competition 

In addition, the company showcased its PALTZ.GO palletizer, also developed this year, which is offered at a lower price point than most palletizers, aiming to make the product accessible for small- and medium-size companies. 

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Both the PALTZ.GO and the PALTZ.CS25 were designed with a programming interface that is designed to be easy to use, which Demers said is part of the company's aim to make the technologies more accessible. 

Demers also addressed the impact of tariffs on manufacturers, which is why the company is in the process of establishing operations in the U.S.  

BeRobox is planning to open a factory in Chicago early next year. "All the units that are sold in the U.S. will be assembled here in Chicago," he said.