When operating any business, being mindful of costs is one of the key ways to maximize sales potential. After all, creating a competitive product is important, but making that product available to the consumer in a cost-effective way sets successful businesses apart from the competition.
Production line automation allows companies to leverage ingenuity and efficiency without sacrificing craftsmanship or quality. With an automated production line, you never have to worry about employees getting sick, you can rest assured that production levels will remain high, and you can feel confident knowing that the end product will be made to a consistently high standard.
Robotic packaging automation in particular mimics human movements to take the human being out of the process without sacrificing the yield of the process. This does not eliminate the need for good staff. Instead, it provides an opportunity to remove the repetitive, unskilled tasks that many humans find boring and unfulfilling yet are critical to meeting production needs.
In other words, robotic packaging automatic provides an opportunity to maximize your staff while maintaining or increasing productivity. That’s a win all the way around.
With robotic packaging automation, software is designed to mimic human movements. Handling products, picking and placing items, packing cases, and palletizing become routine and efficient.
To decide if investing in robotic packaging automation is right for your business, download our free Packaging Machinery Pre-Investment Checklist.
When considering why robots over humans are a good choice in the packaging industry, consider the benefits:
Robots are tireless and require minimal maintenance. A robot arm can work at a high speed for 70,000 hours or more before requiring maintenance or experiencing a mechanical failure.
The increase in productivity results in reduced labor and safety costs. A single robot can perform the tasks of multiple humans in far less time and with greater accuracy. Robots are reliable, consistent, fast, and efficient.
Consider the many motions that robots can perform to add value to your production line:
While the benefits of robotic packaging automation are many, there are some common pitfalls to avoid:
After considering both the pitfalls as well as the opportunities with robotic packaging automation, the next step is to determine where in your packaging system you see the largest need for integrating this technology.
It is best to start by researching companies to learn about the different robotics tools and systems available that might best suit your needs. Take a close look at your current system, and discuss potential integration with key stakeholders.
Once you have chosen the right system for your business, consider your overall budget and plan for expanding your production line to include robotic packaging automation. Finally, debrief your team and share the benefits not only of the system you chose, but also of the advantages of robotic packaging automation overall. Acceptance and excitement from the beginning are key.
The overall benefits of robotics in packaging automation are clear. Quite simply, using robotic package automation allows your company to expand operations with accuracy and consistency while reducing staff injury. Perhaps the greatest benefit is that by using robotic packaging automation, your staff will be free from the repetitive and often dangerous tasks they previously performed. This will make them available to develop new skills to help the company grow.
Increased packaging efficiency, an improved supply chain process, and reduced operational costs are all part of what makes robotic packaging automation so beneficial to many businesses. To determine if your business is well suited to use robotic packaging automation, download our free Packaging Machinery Pre-Investment Checklist.