The Unseen Expenses of Manual Palletizing

Musculoskeletal injuries don’t always show up on the production report—but they hit hard where it hurts: your workforce, your margins, and your momentum.

Manual palletizing is one of the most physically demanding tasks on the factory floor. It’s also one of the most overlooked when it comes to cost. Sure, it seems simple—pick, place, repeat—but the real price of this repetitive strain goes far beyond a sore back and a few lost workdays.

Here’s why the true cost of manual palletizing is much higher than you think—and what to do about it.

What’s really driving the cost?

When a worker gets injured while palletizing, the obvious expenses follow: medical treatment, workers’ comp, maybe even legal fees. These are your direct costs—and they’re steep. According to the National Safety Council, the average lower back injury costs over $39,000 in medical and indemnity expenses.

But the indirect costs? They’re often 2–5x higher.

Think turnover, training a temp, production delays, overtime for replacements, lower morale, missed deadlines… It all adds up. One strain injury can mean your company needs to generate over $2 million in extra sales just to recover the cost.

And if that doesn’t sting enough—your premiums go up next year.

The price of inaction

Here’s the kicker: in countries like the U.S., Canada, and across the EU, MSDs (musculoskeletal disorders) account for up to 30% of all workplace injuries. Most are tied directly to manual handling—especially palletizing.

What’s more, many of these injuries don’t happen overnight. They creep in over months of repeated lifts, awkward postures, and overexertion—until someone suddenly can’t finish their shift. The result? A slow drain on performance, morale, and profitability.

Automation isn’t a cost—It’s a shield

Here’s where it gets interesting: palletizing is one of the easiest tasks to automate—and one of the most strategic places to start.

With a cobot palletizer, you:

Remove workers from injury-prone tasks
Reduce insurance premiums
Eliminate downtime from strain-related injuries
Protect your team and your productivity

The ROI isn’t just about labor savings anymore. It’s about risk prevention—and in today’s market, that’s priceless.

From pain point to profit center

If you’ve been holding off on automation because it felt too complex or costly, start by looking at the real cost of staying manual. The numbers don’t lie. And with modern cobot solutions that install in just a few days, the barriers are lower than ever.

Want to get a clearer picture? Try the OSHA Safety Pays Injury Estimator. See for yourself how one injury could cost more than a fully installed robotic palletizer.