It doesn’t matter which manufacturing industry you operate in, packaging is one of the key processes that will determine whether your business is successful or not. Some companies handle packaging themselves, while others outsource it. Some opt for automated packaging equipment, while others employ labor to do it manually.
But one thing’s for sure, whichever route you take in your business, packaging systems and routines must be reliable and cost effective.
How Automated Packaging Equipment Can Increase Efficiency and Reduce Costs
One of the major reasons businesses turn to automated packaging equipment rather than continuing to do it manually is because they don’t have to waste human resources that could be used more productively. At the same time, quality control with automated packaging equipment is a lot easier than with people. And then there’s the proven adage that machines don’t take coffee breaks! Similarly, machines don’t have “bad days.”
But automated packaging equipment needs to be operated correctly, and it needs to be properly maintained. The human factor is vital here, to ensure that it works properly.
The Value of Automated Packaging Equipment Going Forward
Cost-effective, reliable, efficient, high-speed automated packaging equipment has a huge number of advantages when it comes to productivity. With simplified controls, even operators who are unskilled can achieve top quality results from a packing machine.
For certain, automated packaging equipment can improve speed and performance of the whole operation, and it can optimize whatever system is being used.
In 2015, Packaging Digest’s annual CapEx Study found that businesses were clearly moving towards semi-automatic systems and that most weren’t about to use robotics. The study also found that companies were set to increase their capital expenditure budgets to buy packaging machinery. Most said they would spend at least 10 percent more than they had spent on packaging machinery in 2016.
In April this year, Packaging Digest, established in 1963 and regarded as a top source of news and trends in packaging, reviewed response of their readers (who are mostly packaging professionals) in terms of growing packaging machinery inventions and “trends.” These included:
- Titular technology that allows in-line customization of graphics, letters and numbers, that can be printed at high-speed using a low-power laser onto corrugated materials and paperboard that has been specially treated.
- Elimination of labels on thin-walled PET bottles. This invention was heralded as an ingenious opportunity for packaging and container “source reduction and optimization.”
- The value of the existing global supply chain to provide data that can be used to increase service levels and plan, manage and execute supply chain decisions.
- Perhaps predictably, smartphones, serialization, the cloud, and global connectivity together made the most impact on readers. We know there’s a digital revolution, but how does it apply to packaging? According to some of those interviewed by Packaging Digest:
- It’s got a lot to do with speed and information because anyone with a smartphone can access info from packaging on their phone.
- The same applies to serialization on drugs, and people can authenticate drugs using their phones.
- Packaging machinery can be designed to take advantage of different sensor types that can get more information from the machinery.
- The cloud has the capability to expand both data capture and retention of data. This can work in the favor of consumers who can, for example, immediately see where a package comes from.
- Automated packaging machinery can be programmed to recognize codes, which cuts across language barriers.
While these options are not yet widely available, the so-called trends show just what can potentially be done with automated packaging equipment.
If you’d like to explore how Technik Packaging Machinery can help you now rather than later, contact us as soon as you can and we’ll get started on a plan that will be both cost-effective and reliable.
Follow Us!