One of the most effective ways to upgrade your product line is by adopting end-of-line automation.
Automation enables producers to increase their rate of production and meet increasingly high demands. And it avoids many pitfalls that hinder manual systems: bottlenecks, inconsistencies, irregularities, interruptions, and employee injuries, among others.
Automatic case-packing robots are the simplest solution for high-volume operations because they can boost productivity and throughput. Discover nine ways end-of-line automation can enhance your packaging capabilities and ensure you meet customer demand.
Case packing is an essential aspect of the production process. However, it involves several steps and can require more than a handful of employees. These employees consume multiple resources and need additional space to move around and work optimally.
An automatic case-packing system like the BPA Gantry 100 top load case packer helps to eliminate these impediments and frees up valuable floor space. We also offer a wide range of multi-axis systems for secondary packaging, like the Spider 100, for more advanced and complex applications.
Robots, especially end-of-line case packers, can be designed to be compact. A Gantry-style case packer with two axes, for example, will have a smaller footprint than more sophisticated robotics, but we will ensure you have the best case packer type for your space and needs.
With the right solution, one machine can easily handle the same task more efficiently than multiple employees.
Employees packing at the end of the production line has its drawbacks, the biggest being human error and touch. Unfortunately, humans make mistakes, which could lead to overcounts, undercounts, and misuse of resources.
As robots are usually more efficient and accurate than their human counterparts for picking and packing, an automatic solution can help you reduce waste and mistakes on the line.
In our experience, EOL automated solutions offer nearly perfect efficiency (98%+), so you can rest assured that your cases will be packed correctly and quickly every time without any waste. Automatic machines run 24/7 and can fill each case precisely as before, using the same amount of materials.
As the world progresses toward clean, eco-friendly, and “green” manufacturing methods, you need a system that will help you incorporate packaging materials that support your sustainability goals. We can work with you to recommend an automated solution that will pack into any eco-friendly container you wish and offer an opportunity for potential corrugated savings.
Additionally, our secondary packaging systems are designed to use less energy through fewer pneumatic components and more servo and eco-friendly vacuum technology, helping producers reduce their carbon footprint further.
We offer robotic case packers integrated with vision systems to ensure our systems consistently curate high-quality and fully packed cases without leaving room for error. The vision system can also act as quality control, checking products for damage, discoloration, and more.
As our solutions can reduce reliance on human packers, they will mitigate many of the challenges inherent in manual systems, like lack of training and frequent turnover, that impact quality control.
We can also integrate other secondary packaging equipment to detect metal shavings, act as a full case check weigh system, erect and seal cases accurately, and perform other necessary activities to give your line a complete and unique turnkey system that ensures quality before your products ship to the store.
Our automated solutions will enhance quality control, give your final case a cleaner, neat, and overall professional look, and align your marketing and branding efforts with your packaging.
A user-friendly operator interface allows for on-the-fly changes. It’s easy to dial in an existing or new product recipe to maintain maximum efficiency. You can add new recipes and adjust quality inspection parameters and configurations all through the HMI of an automatic case-packing robot.
Many case packers like the Gravity 100r can have full automatic changeover capabilities. This means minimal downtown between different products, increasing your flexibility and productivity.
These features make the secondary packaging process effective, effortless, and easily adjustable.
End-of-line automation makes your product packaging process efficient. A robot, or an automatic case packer in this case, can go nonstop 24/7 with minimal downtime and fewer bottlenecks, working without breaks and redos.
We will ensure your production and packaging operations run at the same pace to maximize the efficiency of your line process and support higher throughput.
Installing an automatic case packer can significantly increase your production speed. This is one of the selling points and an advantage of end-of-line automation.
Humans can only accomplish a task in a certain amount of time, need breaks, and are prone to injury and error. Ergonomics and repetitive motion injuries increase risk for operators, and you may need multiple people to maintain required run rates. COVID-19 taught us how easily production could shut down due to forces outside our control.
Installing a machine that automatically packs your product for you means you’ll easily be able to cut labor costs and allow workers to engage in other critical tasks.
As a service to our clients in the Americas, we also offer an effective aftermarket preventative maintenance program called the Asset Health and Reliability Program (AHRP) to optimize equipment performance and extend the lifetime of our automated solutions. This will further enable you to relocate your workers to perform other tasks not related to maintenance and repairs while reducing downtime.
An automatic case packing line will positively affect your retail service. With an automated case packer, you’ll know exactly what goes into the box; you can monitor it, keep records, and significantly decrease the chances of sending out defective products, ensuring a better overall customer experience.
Installing an end-of-line automatic case packer will provide a more pristine product pack, improve your customer service, and, in turn, increase profits.
An automatic case-packing robot is, no doubt, an investment. While reducing menial labor, a machine costs more upfront. But the good thing is that the ROI on an automation machine, specifically to increase production rate, has more upside.
You'll get a faster return on investment with lower operating costs, increased output, and fewer obstacles on the production line.
An automatic case packer for your production line will significantly improve your output. Using these case-packing machines will increase the production rate, utilize space smartly, make your end product more appealing, reduce waste, eliminate downtime, and take the quality of your final packaging up a notch.
We encourage you to reach out to our expert team to discuss your packaging goals and current line needs and explore the various secondary packaging equipment we offer. Let’s work together to find a tailored solution that will improve your overall production.
