How Do I Know When to Automate My Packaging Line?

Arguably, an owner’s biggest deciding factor in when and whether to automate is cost. They look at the equipment quote, look at what they pay the person folding and taping boxes, and they decide the machine’s the more expensive option. Bing, bang, boom, no automating today.

The problem is that cost is multifaceted, especially when you’re accounting for human labor. Recruiting and training, turnover, workers’ compensation… all of these things add to the cost of one worker. Packaging work is repetitive and hard on the body. Turnover is high. Low throughput because you’re struggling with staffing a role is the costliest of all – it’s orders or product you don’t ship.

If your time is drastically impacted by turnover, or your workers are dedicated solely to filling or sealing boxes, you’re probably closer to automation than you think. And it’s important that you recognize that early, so that you don’t feel the consequences down the line.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• The three signals that show up on your floor first
• The factors that help you start tackling automation
• The situations where automation is right and the ones where it’s not
• Questions to bring with you to vendors
• The stakes that accompany waiting vs. starting to automate now

Once you believe it’s time to automate, you come to the brick wall of actually starting. Here are two ideas that may soften the blow a bit and maybe provide a doorway:

Automation isn’t all or nothing. Whether it’s all at once or one-at-a-time, the decision is yours. A semi-automatic case sealer is the lowest rung of the ladder – an operator folds the flaps and feeds the box into the machine to tape. It still saves motion and improves consistency and throughput.

Here’s a longer timeline:

You already know where it hurts. Which part of the process is the most painful and expensive to do manually? If you don’t know, your team likely does. If you want to confirm, do a quick time study – track where your team spends the most time, and where errors occur most. For most operations, the answer is case erecting. But the semi-automatic case sealer is a good way to dip your toes in the water before jumping in.

As hard as we’ve been rooting for automation so far, we’ll also be the first to say that it’s not always the right move. The key is volume. High-volume operations are far more likely to justify automation than low-volume ones.

Forcing equipment onto a line that won’t run enough product to use it – not a good capital decision. The same logic applies to what you decide to start with: a continuous-motion system on a line that ships a few hundred cases a day is likely not the right move.

Be honest about where your bottleneck actually is. If your throughput constraint is upstream (e.g. filling, labeling, etc.), then automating the case sealer is not going to fix your problems. That’s why we suggested the time study, because it points you at the real constraint. Sometimes it’s the packaging, and sometimes it’s not.

If you’re worried about what questions to bring to your meeting with the vendor, here are some recommendations that go past the spec sheet:

• How many adjustment points does a changeover require? How does that compare to other machines?

  Fewer adjustment points mean faster changeovers and fewer chances for operator error.
• Is the changeover actually tool-less, or does it need a wrench?

  Tool-less is a higher standard than “fast changeover.” It refers to levers and quick releases in place of tools. Also, ask for a timed demonstration.
• Which of my current products will work on day one? What happens when I add new ones?

  Walk the vendor through your actual product list, including variants you may want to launch later. In consumer goods, marketing decisions drive packaging changes constantly, and the equipment has to handle case sizes you don’t run yet.
• What does the line look like in three years if my throughput doubles?

  The right investment isn’t always the cheapest one. Sometimes it’s best to accept the next ladder rung because it’s the choice that accommodates your next steps. For example, a case sealer that can’t handle an upstream case erector, is a dead-end.

• What do training and documentation look like after installation?

  Even a good machine underperforms with disorganized change parts, lack of posted procedure, and minimal operator training. Ask what’s included and what costs extra.

What happens if you wait too long to automate? The costs keep building:

• The roles you can’t fill become products you can’t ship
• The injuries become claims and higher turnover
• The hand-pack variability becomes chargebacks

Done right, the automation process is a much smoother ride:

• Workers move from repetitive box-work to jobs that use more of their capabilities
• Throughput stops depending on whether you could staff the line this week
• Quality holds because machines don’t have bad days
• You start on the rung you can justify today, and upgrade when your volume merits

The question was never really whether automation makes sense for your line. At meaningful volume, it almost always does. The question is, What is the wait costing you? It matters whether you start doing the math before the signals turn into order shortfalls and worker injuries.