Cost-effective Robotic Palletizer Reduces Labor and Waste for Loose and Bundled Stacks of Carton Blanks
A packaging manufacturer of paperboard cartons and corrugated containers was continuing their efforts to reduce labor costs with automation. They have purchased robotic palletizers from Flexicell for two lines, one palletizing shrink-wrapped bundles and the other palletizing open-top cases. These systems have proven to be a great success in reducing labor, increasing the consistency of pallet loads, and functioning at a higher operational efficiency. var…
When More Is Better: Flexible Palletizing Solution for Large Food Manufacturer
A large manufacturer of sauces and food toppings needed to automate palletization for 6 production lines in their Canadian facility. A centralized palletizing system seemed like the best solution because they could use one robot on multiple lines; however, the lines were not near enough to each other for this to be practical. To keep the footprint relatively small, Flexicell suggested an alternative method, which…
Reducing Labor Costs and Increasing Palletizing Efficiency for a Petroleum Refinery
A petroleum refinery had numerous troubles with their palletizing operation. Their employees were loading the heavy packages, which could weigh up to 45 pounds, by hand. The weight made the process difficult due to the potential for injury. The company also needed to increase production. Their palletizing system needed to be capable of handling two very different products simultaneously: cases and 20-liter plastic pails. Whereas…
2010 Growth Opportunities and Trends in Packaging Automation Equipment
Here is part two of Flexicell’s blog report on “The Road to Recovery”in the Packaging Machinery industry… In our previous blog post, we reported growth in automation categories. In this post, we continue that report with a look at which elements of the packaging machinery business are expected to see more emphasis in 2010. These figures are taken from the 2009 annual report by PMMI,…
PMMI Reports that Packaging Industry Shows 2009 Growth in Seven Categories
Signs point to growth opportunities for packaging machinery manufacturers in 2010, based on the latest industry figures. In the latest annual report by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), the following categories showed growth in 2009: Pre-made bag hanging, opening, weighing, filling and closing machinery (7.9%) Dry products filling (3.8%) Palletizing, de-palletizing and check-weighing machinery (3.3%) Case and tray forming, packing/unpacking, closing and sealing (2.8%)…
2010 Packaging Report Shows Companies Cutting Costs by Adding Automation and Technology
Automation packaging trends sprouting from the recession include increased demand for refurbished or upgraded packaging machinery, surges in demand for copacking and contract-packaging operations, and consumers’ new-found affection for private-label products. Just as importantly, says Chuck Yuska, president and CEO of the Packaging Machinery and Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), lean principles are cutting across all levels of companies’ operations. Consumer product goods companies (CPGs) are cutting…
Robotic System Integrators Rate Highly with Packaging Customers
Overall, respondents to the Packaging in Automation survey say they are pleased with their robotic system integrators. A whopping 90% said that, in general, system integrators do meet their needs. And 80% say they would continue working with the integrators they’ve worked with before. Understanding their customers’ needs and being able to satisfy them with well-implemented, well-supported technical solutions are the very reason for automation…
What Packaging Teams Look For When Making Packaging Machinery Purchases
More than half of the 184 packaging machinery purchasers surveyed in PMMI’s 2009 Customer Attitudes & Behaviors Study (formerly Purchasing Process Study) rely on a preferred vendor list (57 percent), emphasize line integration and solutions strategies (53 percent) and are conducting more rigorous evaluations of manufacturer proposals (52 percent) when making purchasing decisions. Overall, 71% of the 2009 survey respondents indicate that a purchasing team…