Flexicell bag case packing system
What do packagers want out of their robotic automation systems? In a Packaging in Automation survey held by Packaging Digest and Control Engineering magazines, packaging readers listed the five most important attributes of an automation project from their point of view:
- 70% — Reliability
- 62% — Quality/durability
- 60% — Price
- 56% — Easy to use, install and maintain
- 51% — Price-to-performance
In their comments, some packagers seemed to doubt that the integrators they’d worked with had adequately understood their needs. They suggested that integrators “start to understand our needs and be prepared to understand our standards,” “listen to what we want,” and “really get to know my business and the objectives of our project.” Others thought integrators need to better understand a production environment.
To be fair, it should be noted that many accomplished packaging integrators are well aware of the clients’ needs and the value of ongoing communications. Sometimes the lack of understanding stems from the client’s own uncertainty about what he wants. (Read the complete article at System Integration, Packaging Digest.)
Flexicell
Founded in 1992, Flexicell is a leading robotic system integrator specializing in the manufacture of end-of-line automation equipment for case packing, carton loading, palletizing, and material handling. Listening to our customers is important, as demonstrated in the hundreds of successful systems Flexicell has created and installed throughout North America.
For more information, visit Flexicell at www.flexicell.com.
— excerpted from “Integrators: Do you know what your clients want?” by Vance VanDoren, Packaging Digest, November 2009.