SAVE

With Packaging Automation

By: Neal Magaziner

     Well, not quite. At least, not yet. But, automation is certainly the watchword as today’s manufacturers face razor-thin profit margins, Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing and ISO-9002/QS-1000 quality standards. In fact, companies must automate in order to deliver what today’s customer is demanding, when he wants it and at the price he wants to pay.

     Let’s start by taking a look at the reasons why manufacturers automate their packaging operations in the first place. Then, we’ll explore some of the tools that help them do it.

     Labor — The availability and quality of a reliable talent pool is one of the most important business drivers in any industry. So, management must get the most out of the people they do have. Automation allows companies to reassign human resources to more productive areas such as quality control , customer service or product design. And, while workers are sometimes concerned that machines will replace them (not usually true), automated systems can let companies allow employee attrition to take its natural course, without sacrificing productivity.

   Throughput Demands — There’s an old saying among plant managers, “Machines don’t take coffee breaks.” Sure, there is downtime such as scheduled maintenance or occasional rebuilds refurbs, but automated systems can be counted on to produce given amounts of throughput in given amounts of time — every day. And, that means the world to companies who...

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