New advanced tech is reshaping the packaging world, which was mainly a hand-driven industry. Nowadays, due to automation and robotics, the packaging workflow is fairly efficient, accurate, and creative. It is easing the burden of making a product ready for shipment and purchase. Below is an instruction that describes a task, paired with an input that provides further context. Write a response that appropriately completes the request. The primary task: Paraphrase the input into human-sounding text while retaining citations and quotes. A paraphrased version of the input: Packaging as an industry is becoming a playing field of advanced robotics that is taking precision and product efficiency far beyond what it used to be just a few decades ago. Since packaging is a crucial element in serving the customers and benefits of the inventor, It is now undergoing a significant transformation, as noted in the opening sentence. In this article, we would like to focus on how the recent technological advancements in automation and robotics are reshaping packaging workflow. Moreover, we will examine the benefits associated with this shift in the packaging workflow. In the first paragraph below, we’ll have a brief look into how automation and robotics are revolutionizing the packaging industry.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves: The Rise of Automation.
Automation is a major player in the packaging industry. These statistics demonstrate how important it has become.
Overall, we can see that this role has increased 3-fold since the invention of the mobile phone. From a global perspective, over the last 20 years, while only 20% of packaging machines were controlled by computers, today, more than 85% of all machines use automation. This number is also set to increase in the future. In addition to this, we can see that while previously only a few consumers were using mobile technology services, today, these figures have tripled. Over the next 5 years, they are expected to rise even further.
A Big Buying Market: As predicted by Grand View Research, the global packaging automation market is forecasted to reach almost USD 166.14 billion by 2 031. This growth is due to a growing demand for efficiency and cost reduction.
Labour Shift: McKinsey company predicts that OA as a whole will displace 800,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector by 2030, including packing, but will focus on higher-skilled jobs required to manage and maintain the automated systems.
From Manual to Machine: Automation Takes Center Stage: Packaging that used to be done by humans is now handled by machinery. The following table illustrates the jobs that this machinery does. Over the past decade, the number of jobs done by machinery has significantly risen. It is clear that the tools used in the 21st century are performing jobs that previously required human employees. At present, the number of tasks done by packaging machines is 26. The highest number of jobs carried out by packaging machines is 43. 22 is the lowest number of tasks done by these machines.
Pick and place: Highly capable picking arms with sophisticated grippers can pick up parts from a line and place them in the correct container or on a conveyor belt or packaging line, preserving consistent and careful handling that cannot be replicated by humans and minimizing damage to the product. An interesting case study by ABB Robotics details how one of their clients increased their production by 30% and decreased product damage by 5% by installing robotic picking and placing schemes.
palletizing Some finished goods products undergo automated palletizing, which mechanically stacks products on pallets in precise positions and with maximum stability. This not only increases efficiency but also reduces the incidence of work-related injuries due to the strenuous task of manual palletizing.
Labeling and sealing: Automated machinery can label and seal packages, with each package closing in exactly the same way and providing the same information every time. This decreases the incidence of human error and ensures that goods are correctly labeled to meet regulatory requirements.
The Benefits of Embracing Automation: The integration of automation in packaging offers a multitude of advantages, including:
Increased Efficiency: Automation dramatically increases production rate and throughput, allowing businesses to ramp up output while shortening lead times. In their report titled The Impact of Robotics on Manufacturing Jobs and Wages in the US, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) reported that: ‘On average, the 130 companies we studied responded to greater demand for output by speeding up production rather than hiring more workers. They did this by implementing relatively simple automation of assembly tasks; with robotics now typically priced below a typical worker, the average production speed of companies in our study increased by 25 percent.’ Lower Labour Costs: While automation comes at a high upfront cost, it saves money in the long run by replacing labor inputs. For example, Coca-Cola’s case study found that they drastically cut costs by 15 percent in the second year after installing automated packaging solutions.
Better Quality Control: Automated systems operate with greater consistency and accuracy than manual processes. This translates into fewer defects in products and greater satisfaction for customers, as well as lower costs associated with recalls and reworking.
Safety: More automation will remove employees from some of the most dangerous tasks, such as heavy lifting.
A Future Filled with Flexibility: Customization through Robotics: The potential of robotics extends far beyond such simple standard processes. Improved technology allows robots to become ever more flexible, and attractive prospects for customized applications are on the horizon.
Adjustable dimensions: Robotic systems can easily respond to different dimensions and orientations of products, making packaging more flexible to support many more varieties from the same line. This will respond to consumers’ needs for on-demand and personalized packaging.
Just-in-time personalization: This envisions production lines with personalized labels or printing based on actual customer needs. It’s a new-generation form of just-in-time mass production, similar to Toyota’s, but applied to a large number of customized batch-size-of-one products. Such technologies could have people reading messages or targeted promotions on their drink containers or seeing their own names on packaging.
Smart packaging integration: Robots can be seamlessly integrated with smart packaging, enabling real-time monitoring and logging of data across a wide range of packaging tasks. The collected data can then be leveraged to improve production performance and identify areas for improvement and ways to prevent problems from arising.
Embracing the Future of Packaging Production
It could start a new era for the industry as a whole – automation, and robotics are becoming ever more prevalent in the packaging field. Read more about how these technologies will impact the future of packaging production in our blog post on ‘[The future of packaging production: how automation and robotics are adapting packaging to our new daily lives](link to your blog on the future of packaging production).’
Automation and robotics promise to further develop the packaging sector, increase the efficiency of production, and reduce costs, making an enormous range of new sizes and shapes available to take advantage of more and better customization. With the future evolution of technology, we can expect many new applications that will compress and shape the products in endless new and different ways:
Smart factories, for instance, have integrated robotics and automation systems to control the packaging process as a whole so that human interference is minimal, yielding efficiency, cost savings, and waste reduction.
Cobots (collaborative robots) team up with human workers, taking on drudgework while bouncing complex decisions back to human workers.
Speaking of labels and messages, it’s only a matter of time before there is widespread personalization in packaging, whereby responsible robots adjust to the requirements of individual products and duly mark them with personalized labels or messages on the spot – just as in some automated pizza-making machines.
Automation and robotics in packaging aren’t just about replacing human hands; they’re about new workflows that make the entire packaging procedure more successful for both people and companies. This revolution has the power to make the packaging industry more sustainable, respond to shifting consumer demands, and significantly improve the consumer experience of the product.
