6 benefits of having a packaging automation process for your business
Packaging is no longer thought of as a box or container but a coordinated system of preparing goods, that is safe, cost-effective and efficient in its movement throughout a company’s supply chain. For years, products were packed manually by production workers at factories. As technology advances, packaging machines are transforming the packaging process for all businesses.
Switching to automated packaging machines can bring a plethora of benefits to your company. Whilst some benefits might seem obvious, both tangible and intangible benefits, they are all equally beneficial to your company and also your profit. The latest industrial packaging machines are optimising the performance of the entire packaging industry.
These are some of the benefits that can occur if your business were to switch to using automated packaging machines, here are just a few of them.
Production speed is vastly improved
Having the right automation solutions in place can drastically improve production speeds. For instance, it is not unusual for an automated bagging machine, to bag items more safely and far quicker than an average employee.
The right automated packaging solutions can also multitask and fold multiple steps of the packaging process, such as labelling and sealing, into one single step. The results are that these innovative technologies can increase speed and enable companies to shift their staff to tasks that require human workers.
Additionally, with a manual packaging process, there is a greater chance of bottlenecks occurring within a production process due to human errors. Making the switch to automated packaging machines helps to eliminate the risk of bottleneck happening. This is because the bespoke machine has been carefully designed to maintain the flow of the production line. There is also less room for any packing errors, which leads to less downtime and bottlenecks.
Designed to requirements
Many industrial packaging machines can be designed to meet the needs the business requires. From the shape of the product to the case it comes in and how it fits in the box, packaging machine manufacturers are becoming increasingly more innovative with their packaging solutions.
Whilst many only show you what they are capable of when you get in contact, BluePrint Automation goes a step further. On their website, blueprintautomation.com, you can click through their solutions to see what they are capable of achieving. However, by contacting them, they can help to find a solution that not only meets your requirements but exceeds your expectations.
Improvement in quality control
In previous years, automated solutions were not robust enough to be able to fully automate the job of overseeing the whole packaging line quality control. This repetitive and tedious line of work was completed by the employees. With the advancements in technology, in particular machine vision that uses artificial intelligence that allows computers to “view” errors in the same way human employees would, automated solutions are becoming more robust. Some designers believe that their systems make no mistakes and can catch almost every single error that occurs.
In addition to this, automated quality assurance systems work tirelessly. What this means is that their ability to catch and report any error will not diminish throughout a working shift. Combining this with various other automated equipment within your packaging process can enable highly consistent packaging and longer productive hours for your company. This means that you can meet greater demands by consumers, whilst meeting deadlines.
Improves customer service
Moving to use automated packing machines to create an automated packaging process, lowers the risk of any product defects and recalls are significantly reduced. This with the additional benefit of the production capacity increase allows you to provide your customers with a greater service. Improving your customer service results can lead to more loyal customers and having repeat business, which will bring greater profits to your business.
Eliminates any downtime
With any process that involves manual labour, staff are entitled to take breaks. In factories, this means that production is stopped to allow staff to go on their break, resulting in downtime and loss of production for a business. Whereas with an automated packing machine, these breaks no longer occur and the machines can run 24/7 if required.
Risk of repetitive strain injury is reduced
Production workers and process operatives are vulnerable to developing repetitive strain injury (RSI). This is due to a combination of the environment in which they work, the factory setting, and the nature of the tasks that they have to perform. There are various activities prone to developing RSI, and repeating the same motion constantly, which overworks the same tissue groups is common to those working in a factory.
The risks of RSI are dramatically lowered when products are packed automatically and not manually. Automated packaging machines removes the requirement for human input to complete any of the repetitive manual tasks. Automated packaging machines are already designed for repetitive and tedious tasks, which often benefit from consistency. By replacing production workers with packaging machines for certain aspects of your process that require highly repetitive motions, it is possible to both increase productivity whilst reducing a worker’s risk of sustaining an injury.
