END-OF-LINE PACKAGE AUTOMATION JUSTIFYING THE COST OF AUTOMATING YOUR END-OF-LINE PACKAGING PROCESS FOR ENHANCED OUTPUT AND INCREASED SAVINGS
A WHITE PAPER BY: REBECCA WILLSON, CONTENT SPECIALIST
INTRODUCTION
Do any of these situations sound familiar?
Your packaging line can’t keep up with your production rates. You’re experiencing bottlenecks in your packaging area causing ripple effects up the line. You’re struggling to keep up with customer demand. You’re so dependent on manual labor that one employee missing their shift affects your entire day’s production schedule. Packaging is sloppy and reports of product damage are rising. Packaging quality goes down as shifts progress. Packaging is taking up too much space in your facility. You’ve got workers suffering from repetitive strain injuries. You’re losing both product and profit.
With costs increasing daily, how can you stay competitive? You need to increase your throughput while reducing costs. It seems counterintuitive trying to do more with less resources, but that is the direction of American manufacturing. With imports arriving daily produced for much less, American companies are turning to new and innovative ways to make sure that they are competitive in the constantly evolving world economy.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
WHY PACKAGING IS SO CRITICAL TO YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR BRAND ...... 3 EVERYTHING YOU ORIGINALLY THOUGHT ABOUT BOX PACKAGING IS WRONG ...... 4 IT ALL STARTS WITH A CORRECTLY ASSEMBLED BOX ...... 5 REMEMBER THESE 2 CRITICAL THINGS ABOUT SQUARE CASES ...... 5 MAKE SURE YOUR CASES ARE PROPERLY SEALED ...... 6 THE 8 MAIN REASONS TO INSTALL A CASE SEALER IN YOUR FACILITY ...... 7 WHAT’S INSIDE CAN ENSURE PROTECTION EVEN IF THE BOX FAILS ...... 7 FOAM-IN-PLACE OFFERS A UNIQUE VOID FILL OPTION ...... 8 WHERE FOAM-IN-PLACE MAKES THE MOST SENSE ...... 9 ALTERNATIVE PACKAGING OPTIONS ...... 9 WHEN BAGGING IS BETTER THAN BOXING FOR YOUR PACKAGING NEEDS ...... 9 TOP 10 WAYS AUTOMATIC BAGGERS PROVIDE INCREASED EFFICIENCY...... 10 TO SHRINK WRAP OR SHRINK BUNDLE? ...... 10 WHY USE SHRINK WRAP? ...... 11 SO, WHEN EXACTLY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER SHRINK BUNDLING? ...... 12 HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SHRINK MACHINE...... 13 SHIPPING LARGE PALLETIZED UNITS REQUIRES ITS OWN PACKAGING ...... 13 7 KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN PICKING A STRETCH WRAPPER ...... 14 WHEN YOU MIGHT CHOOSE STRAPPING FOR YOUR PALLETIZATION ...... 15 6 QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE THE RIGHT KIND OF STRAPPING ...... 15 CHOOSING THE RIGHT MACHINE FOR YOUR STRAPPING NEEDS ...... 16 AUTOMATION SAVES MONEY: THE MAIN WAYS TO JUSTIFY THE COST ...... 17 SAVINGS THROUGH DAMAGE REDUCTIONS ...... 17 IMPROVED PROCESSES MEAN INCREASED OUTPUT ...... 18 REDUCTIONS IN LABOR COSTS SAVES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR ...... 19 SAVINGS THROUGH DECREASES IN MATERIAL USAGE ON THE LINE ...... 20 IMPROVING WORKER ERGONOMICS AND SAFETY CAN ALSO SAVE YOU MONEY ...... 21 CHOOSING THE RIGHT SUPPLIER MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE ...... 22 EXPERIENCE ...... 22 CUSTOMIZED AND PERSONAL SERVICE ...... 22 HOW MUCH OF A ROLE DOES PACKAGE ENGINEERING PLAY? ...... 23 CHOOSE A COMPANY WITH NUMEROUS OFFERINGS UNDER ONE ROOF ...... 23 FIND A COMPANY THAT UNDERSTANDS SCALABILITY ...... 23
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WHY PACKAGING IS SO CRITICAL TO YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR BRAND When it comes to purchasing, customer satisfaction is relative to the size and price of the products that they are having shipped. The more money they spend, the more likely they are to be concerned about the potential for damage. And knowing that they can return a product will do nothing to alleviate the anxiety and negativity they will feel should they need to exercise that capability. To be honest, anyone of us would be more likely to understand damage to a paperback book we ordered off of Amazon over the newest iPhone we ordered from our cellular provider. It no longer makes sense for retailers to simply increase the size of the package in order to improve protection; in shipping dimensional weights matter more than actual weights, so retailers must take into account their customer’s needs and interests as they consider their packaging. Consumers have reasonable shipping expectations: Deliver ordered items in a high-impact and long-lasting comfort cushion Wraps the product without hiding it in annoying loose fill Secure the item with less product and something that is a sustainable solution Protect fragile, odd-sized, and odd-shaped products Reduce the worry about product performance and the need to return Lower or maintain current customer share of shipping cost
Consider this: a 2014 study showed that only 5% of consumers feel their customer experience exceeded their expectations and approximately 30% say that companies miss the mark. Regardless of the retailer, customers expect products to be damage free. And their expectations seem to have risen alongside the rise and availability of online sources to voice their satisfaction or, more importantly, their dissatisfaction: 95% of customers will report their poor experiences to others some of the time 60% of consumers will report their poor experiences to others all of the time
To be honest, the general public has little understanding of the critical importance that packaging plays. It’s not just about the box looking nice on the shelf and catching our attention; it’s about On average, consumers will only tell 8 safely getting those boxes to customers. With damage rates during people about their good experiences, but shipping hovering around the 10% mark and customers being will likely tell more than TWICE that connected around the globe, it’s time to reconsider the best way to many about their bad experiences. package products to protect them.
The best way to start is to remember what your package will face in transit and then find ways to avoid that potential for damage. While no protection is guarantee-able, especially once the package leaves your facility, if you’ve prepared your package for the worst, hopefully, you’ll see better results.
End-of-line package automation is the new packaging buzzword because it saves time and money while decreasing product damages sustained in transit. When using automation, you’re using less materials, you’re ensuring a cleaner application, and, at the same time, you’re removing some of labor intensive aspect of packaging.
It’s easy to write about why packaging automation is the right decision for every facility, but it’s harder to prove. And it’s safe to bet that machines are pretty low on the list of priorities, especially, if your management team is looking for ways to cut costs.
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However, you can’t look at it as a simple way to reduce damage or save money through simple reductions in labor or material usage; think of it as a way to scale production. Increased production and decreased expense: two of the best reasons to automate in today’s business environment of doing more with less.
Many companies are now considering additional costs savings, such as the overall costs of lost opportunity (due to employee “Automating [aspects of the] manufacturing absenteeism), safety and ergonomics related costs, reductions in process [such as packaging] not only drives waste, reductions in their carbon footprint, and the savings in both administrative time and expense of employing and costs down, it improves quality, reduces waste managing fewer people. All these factors can lead to an accurate and optimizes energy use. […The] application ROI calculation. of automation is an essential ingredient in the sustainability of manufacturing businesses; Everything you’ve read and all the research you’ve found says automation will consequently increase a automating end-of-line packaging processes will help your manufacturer’s competitive edge.” overall goal of doing more business with less resources. And, sure, it all sounds good, but how do you know if it’s right for your facility? Where do you start? What do you look for? And MIKE WILSON, CHAIRMAN how are you going to convince your management team that the THE BRITISH AUTOMATION AND ROBOT initial expense is worth it in the long run? ASSOCIATION
First, the solution needs to be simple and easily upgradeable. This ensures that you are capable of running future products at the future speeds that your market will inevitably demand. It also enables operators to change between products without having to make too many changes to the machine. Second, remember that these machines, like any other, will need regular maintenance to prolong their life, minimizing downtime and maximizing utilization. Third, the materials that you use in your machine play a critical role in their functioning. To perform at high efficiency, machines need to use high quality and consistent materials.
EVERYTHING YOU ORIGINALLY THOUGHT ABOUT BOX PACKAGING IS WRONG
Boxes, cases, cartons: whatever you may call them, you likely see them everywhere. And they are probably the first thing you think of when you think “packaging.”
From front porches where they’ve been left from an e-commerce seller to distribution centers and manufacturing where they are storing products for shipment out to their final destinations, corrugated boxes have become an integral part of our world.
Most of us think of boxes as nothing more than the throw away carrier that brought us our products from the manufacturer. But the fact of the matter is that corrugated is a high performance and a highly technical packaging system.
Fact: The power of the case is generated by its top and bottom flaps; they have to be vertical to maximize strength. Fact: Vertical cases provide maximum crush resistance, which helps with damage deterrence. Fact: Boxes not assembled at a perfectly 90° can lose up to 30% of their original strength. Fact: The more recycled material that is used to make the box, the weaker it inherently will be. Fact: The thickness of a box’s walls can make or break it, literally. If the need to save money through reduced expenditures is important, consider other ways of reducing costs so you aren’t reducing the integrity of your packaging.
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Fact: Consider what kind of environment you’re working in; corrugated boxes can lose up to 50% of their strength in high humidity environments. Virgin fibers are longer and the Fact: Corrugated boxes are pretty high-tech; assembled correctly, longest fibers interweave better, they offer impact, drop, and vibration damage protection, while imparting to the paper higher offering uniform stacking and weight distribution. strength and better appearance.
There are many environmental factors that affect the performance of corrugated – temperature, humidity, storage conditions, and degree of warp, as well as the manufactured quality of the case blanks, dimensional accuracy, depth of score lines, thickness (single wall, double wall), flap size, and the amount of recycled content.
Corrugated boxes offer endless advantages and are highly cost-effective. They are a mere fraction of the cost of the products that they protect. But, as stated, the ultimate protection is only available when the boxes are correctly assembled and the contents secured, ensuring that their structural integrity is intact and they are capable of withstanding all the pressures that shipping can put on them.
IT ALL STARTS WITH A CORRECTLY ASSEMBLED BOX Case erecting is a very time consuming and highly intensive manual proposition, especially because it takes time to properly position cases. Having them perfectly square ensures that your boxes are more durable, helping to withstand the rigors of shipping.
Without ready cartons, your production line grinds to a halt. And, One person can erect about 3 cases per while installing a case erector will definitely increase your packaging and production speed, it can also help with other money saving minute; one automated case erector can efforts. assemble approximately 9x as many boxes in that same minute. Increases in productivity: One person can erect about three cases per minute; one automated case erector can assemble approximately 9 times as many boxes per minute. Reductions in cost: Not only are you providing more cases to be packed at a faster rate, you also don’t have to provide salary, benefits, and training to an automated case erector. Reductions in inventory and storage needs: Each box takes up floor, shelf, and walk space. Improved safety: The installation of a case erector reduces the likelihood of repetitive motion strain since it has removed the human element of assembly. Improved assembly: Case erectors insure that the boxes coming off their lines are both reinforced appropriately and squared up, ensuring maximum strength.
REMEMBER THESE 2 CRITICAL THINGS ABOUT SQUARE CASES There are two really important things to remember when you start looking into automating your case assembly process: your case erector must make square cases and it must prevent jams. Why is square so important? All the focus on perfectly square cases may seem like something that would only matter to a perfectionist, not having that much impact on your overall business, but non-square cases can actually lead to shipping damages.
Square cases support more weight. You’ve already read that improperly assembled cases lose up to 30% of their strength. And that’s before you add in the rough ride that shipments endure.
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Square cases stack better. Being able to pack boxes onto a pallet with straight sides allows for easier stretch wrapping and a decreased likelihood of damage during shipping. Square cases pack better. Cases with a bit of a bow in the side or a twist in the box will make it more difficult to fill completely and will also reduce the protective capabilities of the boxes.
Remember, if you’ve got a team of people hand assembling cases, they each have to eyeball the sides and bottoms, attempting to make the cases they’re responsible for square as possible. Since everyone is different, each vision of “square” will be slightly different. Machines only have one square setting and that’s at exactly 90°.
In order for the sides of a case to be vertical, the minor and major flaps on both the top and the bottom must be closed consistently and squarely. As a rule of thumb, that simply doesn't happen when cases are manually erected and closed, particularly when they are sealed with tape dispensers. Can machine jams really cause issues? Recovering from jams is not only time consuming, it’s also expensive. A jam can cause the entire production process to shut down and you’re losing money every second that you’re not running. If you’re using other automation systems in your packaging – packers, sealers, etc. – those machines are looking for square, uniform cases. Hand assembly reduces the likelihood of perfect angles and, thus, increases the likelihood of slowdowns from machine jams anywhere in the packaging area.
With companies pushing for cases that are made with less material or more recycled materials which can ultimately lead to issues in the machines, many equipment companies have started looking for ways to ensure jam-free operation. They make machines that anticipate and overcome the environmental variations case blanks are exposed to. They force the case to open so it’s square and then fold and seal it so it’s rigid and the squareness is locked in.
MAKING SURE YOUR CASES ARE PROPERLY SEALED WILL HELP PROTECT YOUR PRODUCTS Remember, there are two ways to seal your boxes: by hand or by machine. Hand sealing is slow, messy, and may require multiple strips which could possibly still not effectively hold because the pressure by which they were applied was not right. And with more workers on the floor comes additional labor costs and the propensity for injuries from repetitive motion. If you’re wondering about the popularity of cases sealers at other facilities, consider that 40% of the If you’re wondering just how popular it is amongst current tape market is actually machine length tape. other facilities, consider that 40% of the tape market is actually machine length tape. So, nearly half of people who are purchasing case sealing materials are using machines. Advantages include lower labor costs, less material waste, greater productivity, and less damage and theft of materials during transportation. Material and labor savings, alone, can justify the initial cost of a machine in about a year.
Consider the following when you start the process of determining if automating is right for your facility: How many boxes are you sealing and how many do you foresee sealing? How are you currently sealing and how many people does it take? What types of boxes are sealing? Are they all uniform shapes or do they change frequently? Are they fragile? Are they shaped irregularly? Are they light or heavy? Could you improve throughput and increase production with automating the sealing process?
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Are you experiencing shipping damages or theft? If so, do you know what is causing the damage or why it is easy for theft to occur?
THE 8 MAIN REASONS TO INSTALL A CASE SEALER IN YOUR FACILITY Rising labor cost, high employee turnover, and the need for faster line speeds are pushing management to automate – upgrading existing production lines and considering new lines to increase production capabilities. End-of-line automation is an investment that can make or break your entire line.
1. Increase your output. Doing more with less is the mantra of the new American workplace. With a case sealer at the end of your line that is sealing faster than manual sealing rates, you’re automatically doing more with less. Faster sealing rates mean less production time and higher production output on a daily basis. 2. Eliminate double taping and reduce tape usage. Ever received a box at home or at your office that seems to have a dozen pieces of tape across the top to seal it? With a case sealer, one strip of tape is applied in a consistent seal, eliminating multiple reapplications of tape that someone may add with a hand-sealer to ensure complete closure. Think of all the tape you’re already saving. 3. Eliminate uneven tape lengths and positions. By regulating the length and position of all of the tape placed on each carton, you will eliminate the wasted excess tape found on many boxes today. 4. Enhanced packaging. Without the over-taped look of many cases today, on the shelf presentation of cases sealed with a case sealer is enhanced, making your presentation much more professional looking. 5. Increased product security. With more consistency comes better security; one piece of tape that has been tampered with will be much easier to spot than a box that has multiple, overlapping pieces of tape. It improves security during transport by decreasing pilferage rates. 6. Eliminate product damage. When you use staples, glue, or straps to seal cases during packaging, there is a much higher probability of damage to your products or injury to your workers. In addition, the machines that apply glue and staples have higher maintenances costs, on average, than automated case sealers. 7. Reduce employee injuries and downtime. We’ve all heard that repetitive motion can cause body strains in employees, including back, neck, and wrist injuries. By automating the case sealing process and removing employees from this work detail, you are eliminating the likelihood of fatigue, downtime, and strain injuries. 8. Reduce worker’s compensation premiums. By reducing the numbers of worker’s compensation claims due to strain injuries from repetitive motion, your company’s total premiums for worker’s compensation will also fall, saving you additional money and stress.
In today’s atmosphere of economic uncertainty, it is increasingly important to take a look at your present procedures, materials, and equipment. By installing a case sealer at the end of your lines, you have the potential of saving thousands of dollars each year in materials and labor, while increasing your output and production quality.
WHAT’S INSIDE CAN ENSURE PROTECTION EVEN IF THE BOX FAILS Think about it: How well are your products protected? How efficiently and ergonomically do you pack? How well is your packing integrated into your total fulfillment program?
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A Closer Look at the Standard Void Fill Process When you have empty space in a box, the space must be filled to prevent the potential for crushing, stop interior product movement, and protect the product itself from damage. Today, what is known as void filling is typically performed by a person who stuffs empty spaces within carton with various materials.
Void fill materials such as air pillows, loose fill, bubble wrap, newsprint, kraft paper, and foam are commonly used. The packer needs to determine the amount of material that needs to be placed in the empty space in order to protect the items for shipment. This process is typically a bottleneck within the packaging operations since it is very labor intensive. However, each has their own specific complaints: kraft paper creates dust and, although reusable, most of the time it gets thrown out. Loose fill packaging (like packing peanuts) are messy and time consuming. The time spent each day loading and cleaning up the mess at each packaging station creates quite a bit of additional work. And, usually, clients complain about the mess associated with the loose fill material once they’ve received their packages. Some forms will degrade when exposed to impact and vibration. Many will lose volume when subjected to It is worth noting that different void fill impact or time under load, so comparisons between materials will respond uniquely to the wide various candidate materials can be a challenge, or at least variety of typical distribution environmental more than just cost per cubic foot. elements. Many will “settle” under distribution Protective packaging can only do its job if used correctly, vehicle vibration conditions. Some will expand so it’s important to know your options specific to your at reduced atmospheric pressures experienced distributions needs. Because no solution is the same, at high altitudes. Some will be affected by every customer has different business requirements, and exposure to extreme temperatures. no solution stays perfect over time. Consequently, because customer’s business models and requirements are changing over time, too, the identified and realized solution has to be continuously improved and further developed as part of an ongoing process.
It is critical to consider the following: The total cost of ownership of the identified perfected solution: in-, into-, around-the box Look at the entire carton fulfillment and shipping process, providing the perfect package and protective elements, optimizing the package itself, minimizing labor, justifying application of automation, and optimizing the facility, as well as the capital expenditure and space utilization. Reduction of delivery costs by minimizing package volume and optimizing freight and parcel transportation. Reduction of unnecessary packaging, improving the appearance of the delivered parcel, and protecting the contents of the package the most effective, efficient, and sustainable way.
FOAM-IN-PLACE OFFERS A UNIQUE VOID FILL OPTION
Foam-in-place provides unique customized cushioning properties. It is extremely versatile because it molds around the product it is protecting. This molding happens when two liquid chemicals are injected into a high density polyethylene bag; once this happens, the reaction begins to “foam” and expand to surround the item, filling the void between the container and the product, creating a completely custom protective shell.
This technology offers the highest degree of product protection available. It allows operators to work smarter and more simply for maximum productivity. It reduces or eliminates damage expense. Its small footprint maximizes space and cost efficiency, while increasing consumer confidence.
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If you’re constantly trying to manage consumable usage, frustrated by unexpected equipment downtime, or annoyed about having to wait days for a technician, you’re not alone. The fact is that equipment is supposed to help make packaging easier, safer, more efficient, and keep your facility more productive.
Today, the most cost-effective and time-efficient foam-in-place technologies are designed with the operator in mind, by simplifying the packaging process, reduce costs, and increasing productivity. These technologies include ways to: Better manage costs associated with consumables Avoid downtime due to equipment malfunctions Operate the unit quickly, easily, and by any employee, not just highly trained ones Know that every package going out the door has the right level of protection Use new, state-of-the-art equipment without a huge capital expenditure
As basic as it might sound, these weren’t really a possibility until recently. Many facilities were using 20th century technology to package 21st century products because they were trying to avoid spending extra capital on upgrading their packaging. But sometimes it takes moving your packaging into the 21st century to ensure that your products arrive to your customers undamaged and that your brand and reputation are not tarnished.
WHERE FOAM-IN-PLACE MAKES THE MOST SENSE The really fancy technology sounds great. And you know that products need snug and lightweight protection to assure customer satisfaction and cost-effective shipping. But where do these machines really make the most sense?
Home-based businesses are especially cost-bound to packaging and ship safely and efficiently. Furniture and appliances are heavily discounted when they have surface scratches. Shipping stores and business mailrooms ship with various options, but they rely on the low cost, speed, and minimal space of shipping equipment and supplies. Retail and e-commerce have new reasons to consider the value of “free” shipping offers. Museums and antiques need protection for sensitive and fragile materials. Medical products should arrive cleanly, as well as safely. Electronics include sensitive parts and glass requiring protection and separation.
ALTERNATIVE PACKAGING OPTIONS Corrugated boxes are the primary type of shipping containers used today for five main reasons: (1) they’re lightweight, (2) they’re strong, (3) they’re inexpensive, (4) they’re easy to recycle, and (5) they can be printed with graphics for the product that they are protecting.
However, there are alternative forms of packaging that are even less expensive, offer large material cost savings, are for more adaptive (one roll fits all), and provide superior theft and damage reduction.
WHEN BAGGING IS BETTER THAN BOXING FOR YOUR PACKAGING NEEDS Bagging, rather than boxing, works best when your facility is packaging a lot of small items into a batch. Examples could include anything from dry dog or cat food to mulch or soil to picture-hanging nails or pens and pencils.
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If you’re on the fence about whether you really need to automate your bagging, understand that no matter the size of your business, an automated bagging system will help you increase production while reducing expenses. It can reduce labor up to 80%, save up to 50% over paper envelops, and eliminate 100% of labeling and corrugated boxes.
Machines that automatically bag products vary in Automated bagging can reduce labor up to 80%, save up footprint size, task versatility, and cost-efficiency; to 50% over paper envelops, and eliminate 100% of they are technologically advanced, programmable, and durable. Available as either fully or semi- labeling and corrugated boxes. automatic, the systems expedite and improve the process of shipping and handling, working with speed and accuracy to open, fill, and seal bags of just about anything – big or small – that fits in a bag. Bringing precision and speed to operations relieves workers of this manual work. Automated bagging systems use technology to improve productivity while reducing labor overhead, preventing shipping damages, insuring proper weight distributions, and managing risk with quality outcomes.
What product(s) are you handling? What bags you will be using (type, size and style)? What speed/throughput do you think you require? What weight accuracy and product weight will be required? Are there any space restrictions or considerations regarding the installation area?
TOP 10 WAYS AUTOMATIC BAGGERS PROVIDE INCREASED EFFICIENCY
1. Up to 350% faster production throughput. 2. Increase in weight accuracy. 3. Average labor cost reductions of 40%. 4. Up to 50% reduction in the amount of needed workstations. 5. Printing options that are approximately 50% faster. 6. Lower maintenance costs: fewer moving parts, uses off-the-shelf parts. 7. Up to a 90% reduction in scrap and material costs. 8. Ability to record historical data, used for maintenance and measuring errors. 9. Integrates popular rate shopping software for shipping efficiencies and savings. 10. Average training time of about one week.
TO SHRINK WRAP OR SHRINK BUNDLE? Shrink wrapping is the process of applying a heat-shrinkable plastic wrap that covers all surface areas of a product or products; the words to remember are “heat-shrinkable.” Without the application of heat, the plastic used for shrink wrapping is just loosely placed around the product.
Shrink wrap does not have the same stretchy or clingy properties as stretch wrap; it is made from polymer plastic films and is designed to package a single product or hold items together, providing a tamper-proof barrier and protection from moisture and dust during transportation or storage. If applied properly, products should have no issues with chafing or surface damage. If you want to wrap a single or very few units, shrink wrap is probably your best option, giving them a really nice, completely film-covered look.
Shrink bundling is very similar to shrink-wrapping except the plastic wrap completely covers 4 surfaces of the item or items being bundled, and there are open spaces or "bullseyes" on the two ends of the bundle
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where consumers tend to grab. Chances are you’ve seen the hundreds of products bundle wrapped in club stores: single or variety pack of food, condiments, or beverages (canned, boxed, or bottled), as well as in the household cleaning section.
Bundling film is really the ideal way to get away from using a carton or other budget-unfriendly way to keep products together. Bundling film machines can easily be modified to fit multiple sizes without hefty tooling fees and wait times.
Shrink wrapping and shrink bundling works well for products that do not require the compression support that a cardboard box would provide. And they are both typically used in products that are going to be consumed by the general public.
So, when you have decided which packaging option is right for your product, remember this important thing: you want your customers to be able to handle the product easily without it coming apart on their way to the register and without surface damage.
Additional factors to consider: Appearance: What does your customer want to know about your product from its packaged appearance? Consumers hate over packaging, but still want attractive, protected products. Product Protection: Is your product packaging tamper-evident? Is it protected so that it maintains its key attributes while waiting for the consumer to take it home? Can you open it? Because different products require different protection, finding the best packaging is hard. Operational Cost: How much does your packaging cost your company in time, labor, materials, and machinery? It is not just one of these costs but all combined that make the difference. Societal Cost: Do you or your customer care about aftermarket costs of disposal of the packaging? How will you convey the message if you do?
WHY USE SHRINK WRAP? Shrink wrapping is the ideal packaging solution when your product is oddly shaped or you are doing a low volume of any one size package. However, it is important to keep in mind that operational costs are typically higher because of film waste and energy consumption in the shrinking process. Products must be heat tolerant due to the required heat tunnel to make the film fit the package. You usually cannot use printed film as the film often distorts as it shrinks.
Shrink wrap is used, mainly, to protect individual products. From DVDs to cucumbers to machinery, you can protect these items with properly applied shrink wrap. Then, you can pack these same products in other packaging materials. It is a proven and accepted technology; the machines, consumables, and technical know-how required are widely available.
Additionally, using shrink wrap is inherently less expensive than traditional case packing since shrink films are much cheaper than corrugated, as well as being more eco-friendly as they are bio-degradable and recyclable thus helping to reduce carbon emissions. And speaking of carbon emission reduction, using shrink wrap also takes up less factory space, as well as less space for transportation and shipping.
Shrink wrapping provides daily business benefits by: Decreasing costs versus traditional packaging methods Allowing extra storage space and savings cots because of the small volume and light weight of the wrap Guarding against dirt and humidity, saving products from spoiling Being easily stored in all climates
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Using approximately 75% less materials in contrast to traditional packaging techniques
SO, WHEN EXACTLY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER SHRINK BUNDLING? Shrink bundling is a highly cost effective packaging methods for securing your product for distribution and shelf display. It is also a cost effective method to eliminate corrugate and paperboard materials in packaging designs for food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, and a host of other industries.
Less expensive than traditional corrugated packaging, shrink bundling is increasingly becoming a preferred packaging method. The main advantages of shrink bundling over the comparable cardboard boxes are that it uses less material and protects the products from environmental contamination. Advantages of Shrink Bundling Optimal for heavy items such as cases of waters, sodas, cans, In addition to improved product and unitizing other items. Offer bullseyes on the end of each protection, shrink bundled packages case, allowing for easier transport by consumers. typically require less handling. Whether there is more or less damage Requires up to 75% less material than similar corrugated is a matter of debate; while a shrink packaging methods. bundle is certainly less objectively Printed bundling films offer an opportunity to advertise your protected, many times less damage product and project your brand recognition, without having occurs because fewer people are to worry about the time and labor involved in manually handling it and they can see the arranging the products with their labels facing outward. contents, lending them to be more Superior protection from dust, water, and other potential careful when handling the packages. environmental contaminants.
Offer superior theft and damage reduction, as fewer people Shrink bundlers are designed to wrap a handle the bundles and tampering is highly evident. bundle of product in heat shrinkable plastic film; they form the plastic wrap around the bundle using two rolls of plastic film. Rather than completely enclosing the products, bundlers have open ends know as bullseyes on each side of the package.
Shrink bundling films combine production efficiency with minimized material use and have increased marketing appeal. Through the use of clear or printed shrink films, shrink wrapped packages have strong shelf presence and are perfect for retail display.
Standard bundling films continue to get clearer and stronger allowing for a clean, crisp product appearance. Meanwhile, printing technologies have advanced to the point of near photo quality appearance with affordable flexography formats. This provides the opportunity for customers to advertise their product on the shelf and control brand recognition.
The use of printed bundling film on loose cans can be extremely cost saving. For example, if you had six cans that you wanted in a multipack with clear bundling film, you would have to rotate the cans so that all the graphics are facing outwards. You may also need to individually cover up each UPC.
With printed bundling film, the cans are covered completely except for the small bullseye holes on either sides. With this option, no cover up labels or turning of cans would be required.
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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SHRINK MACHINE
No matter which you choose – shrink wrapping or shrink bundling – choosing the right machine can make or break your operation.
1. Look to down gauge. The use of polyethylene and similar thin films is a huge cost-cutting opportunity. Fifty percent of customers use heavier gauge film than they need. Why? A thicker gauge buys a lot of “forgiveness,” allowing companies to get away with sloppier setup, less efficient machines, and less competent operators. Premium films are being used to accommodate these shortcomings. While down gauging involves a lot of work, it can pay off. Instead of using a film that costs $4 a pound, you can use one that costs $0.71 a pound with the right machine. In fact, film suppliers are producing better-quality, inexpensive, thin films. 2. Identify the right technology platform, especially if it’s a new process for the business. See what your product and distribution environment can handle. Rigid containers such as metal cans easily transition from a tray to a pad. But what if you’re dealing with a 3-ounce plastic bottle with an hourglass shape? Be very careful and do a lot of testing to see if it’s even possible to move from a tray to a pad to an overwrap. Shrink-only packs will obviously save corrugated costs, but such a move requires foresight and planning to ensure package integrity with package development experts. 3. Speed matters. The speed at which you’re wrapping is a key parameter. The number of products remains on the upside of the growth curve; consider this as you examine potential equipment. While there are no hard and fast rules, the impact of product development on speed cannot be ignored. 4. Size matters, as well. Pay attention to the length of the shrink tunnel. Don’t undersize it. Film takes a certain amount of time to heat up and shrink. Selecting shorter heat tunnels with higher heats is not good logic. For higher speeds, tunnels can become long and are often a target for footprint reduction. Tunnels with small chambers have a tendency for hot spots that can result in poor packages. 5. Look for shrink tunnels with lower air velocity. Tunnels with high velocity airflow can disturb the film causing more wrinkles. 6. Storage and handling issues are important. For shrink film, proper storage is essential. Are film roll tolerances within specifications (e.g., tension consistency, minimum edge curl)? Pay attention to what the equipment incorporates to manage film tension and consistency features such as vacuum control for film edges. 7. Don’t shirk on capacity. Flexible robotics requires extra capacity; have one or two extras so, if one machine fails, your whole line isn’t down. Designing in excess packing capacity can improve overall uptime. 8. Consider the ultimate environment and display. If a product is affected by temperature, case packing is preferable to shrink wrapping. If product visibility is important, shrink packing is better, unless the product is affected by shrink wrapping pressure. 9. The machine must have flexibility. Flexible materials are having an impact on multi-packing. Certain flexible bags cannot be shrink wrapped because they are prone to distortion; otherwise the shrink bundle could be fused onto the primary packaging.
SHIPPING LARGE PALLETIZED UNITS REQUIRES ITS OWN PACKAGING CONSIDERATIONS Choosing the right method of stretch wrapping should be a careful consideration for any business. There are several factors to consider when making your choice.
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Hand wrapping is labor intensive and slow. Manual effort cannot effectively stretch the film. This has negative consequences on holding strength and unit stabilization. To increase stabilization, personnel often overwrap the pallet, using more material than necessary. Workers are prone to injuries from tripping, falls, and repetitive motion.
Stretch wrap machines allow for obtaining the high performance from the material, while eliminating the negatives of hand wrapping. The more the material is stretched, the lower the usage and the greater the savings. Other advantages include lower labor costs, greater load stabilization, and less damage to pallet loads during transportation. Material and labor savings, alone, can justify the initial cost of a machine in about a year.
Consider the following when you start the process of determining if automating is right for your facility: How many loads are you currently wrapping and how many loads do you foresee wrapping? How are you currently wrapping and how many people does it take? What types of loads will you wrap? Will the loads all be boxes, irregular shapes, fragile, etc.? Are the loads heavy, light, stable, unstable, etc.? Are you experiencing shipping damages? If so, do you know what is causing the damage? Are you operating multiple shifts?
When stretch wrap is applied by machine: Production rates increase & labor costs If you are wrapping 15 or more loads per day, it’s more decrease cost-effective to use a machine than to wrap by hand.
Injuries decrease At that level, machines justify their costs by reducing Wrapping is consistent and optimized Quality is increased manual labor expense and the possibility of injuries. Less material is consumed
In addition to increased productivity and decreased liability, most machines pull the stretch wrap at least 200% before applying it to the load. This results, not only in optimizing its load force capabilities, but also in legitimate savings of up to 50% of material costs.
For example, a company that historically uses a full pallet of hand film each month might reduce their usage to 6 pallets per year. The savings on material alone will provide significant return on investment very quickly.
Now that you understand that automating your wrapping will improve your overall processes, it’s time to determine how exactly to do it. So, where do you even start?
7 KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN PICKING A STRETCH WRAPPER Make sure you don’t lose sight of the most important reason why you’re wrapping in the first place: to get your load from its origin to its destination in the same condition in which it left. Machines wrap better than people, but they are not capable of making decisions as they work, so you’ll need to understand a few things about what you want the machine to be able to do, so you can make the right choice.
1. What kind of wrap will you be using? More than likely, the stretch wrap you’ve always used for hand wrapping won’t work as well on a machine. You’ve got to consider the gauge, the pre- stretch ability, and the material of the film. 2. How much load containment force do you need? The top, middle, and bottom layers of your load need to all have the correct amount of containment force: the wrap force multiplied by the
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number of film layers. The right amount of containment force depends on the type of load you’re wrapping. Heavy loads may require more containment force and lighter loads may require less. 3. How will you wrap the pallets and how many wraps will be necessary? The way the load is wrapped depends on your settings. You need to choose the number of top and bottom counts. You must also decide the wrap force setting and how much overwrap you want applied on the top of the load. 4. What will you do to limit breakage? Breaks are more than just an annoyance. They’re the biggest problem in stretch wrapping. Often they lead to a chain of disastrous consequences. Breaks in the wrap are, indeed, the enemy. To limit your risk for breaks, there are a few things you can do. Keep your products from overhanging the pallet and try to eliminate sharp corners. Train operators to properly handle film. Improper film threading is a main cause of film breaks. Film breaks can occur when the film roll experiences nicks. These nicks happen when the film roll has been dropped or mishandled. Don’t buy “cheap” film, which has higher risk for flaws (gels, nicks, tears). Cheap film doesn’t have the ability to stretch as far as performance films. Don’t set the wrap force too high. Depending on your film and product, play around with the tension of the film to determine the best setting. 5. Do you need additional reinforcements? You may need to secure partial layers with the roping technique or you may need to band. Sometimes your load may even call for steel or polyester strapping. Stretch wrap can’t solve all your potential issues, especially if your load is heavy and/or unstable. 6. What type of stretch wrapper is best suited for your specific application? Think about the size, weight, and variability of the loads you will be wrapping. Highly variable loads would benefit from certain types of machinery, such as orbital, horizontal wrappers that secure the load most securely to the pallet. Stable, light-weight loads of consumer goods would do well with a turntable style wrapper, while unstable or heavy loads would do better with a rotary arm machine. 7. What kind of production speed to you require? If you’re moving from a hand wrap application to Whether you choose a highly automated ring simple automation, a semi-automatic stretch wrapper that can achieve speeds as high as 150 loads wrapper may be all that is required. Although per hour or you prefer the redundancy of two lower these machines still requires a person to manually volume machines in parallel can depend on available attach the film to the load at the beginning of the space, labor costs, and maintenance expenses. wrap cycle and cut the film at the end of the cycle, they can achieve rates as high as 35 loads per hour.
WHEN YOU MIGHT CHOOSE STRAPPING FOR YOUR PALLETIZATION Occasionally strapping is used has an additional way to close, seal, or package individual boxes, but typically it is used to package large palletized products for shipment or storage. There are many types of strapping options available, but this document will focus on the three main types used in packaging today.
6 QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE THE RIGHT KIND OF STRAPPING FOR YOUR APPLICATION 1. Is the load heavy and stable? If so, use steel strapping. 2. Does it need to travel a long distance? If so, use steel strapping. 3. Will it need to be loaded and unloaded many times before destination? If so, use steel strapping. 4. Is the load fragile, prone to devaluation if scratched? If so, use polyester strapping. 5. How experienced are your employees using steel strapping? If they are not very experienced, you should use polyester strapping.
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6. What is your budget? As commented, steel strapping is more expensive than polyester strapping, although they are not always used for the same applications.
PERFORMANCE STEEL POLYPROPYLENE POLYESTER Tensile (break) strength • • • • • • • • • Elongation 1% 8 – 10% 1 – 2% Ability to retain tension • • • • • • • • Elongation recover • • • • • • • Split resistance • • • • • • • • Recyclability • • • • • • • • • Cost $$$ $ $$ Shock resistance • • • • • •
LOAD CHARACTERISTICS STEEL POLYPROPYLENE POLYESTER Compressible • Expanding • Rigid • • • Friction held •
APPLIED BY STEEL POLYPROPYLENE POLYESTER Hand • Manual tools • • • Power / battery tools • • • Semi-automatic arch • machines Semi-automatic machines • Automatic machines • Fully automatic machines •
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MACHINE FOR YOUR STRAPPING NEEDS When it comes to considering what type of machine you might need, consider the following questions. And remember that steel strapping cannot be applied by machine.
How fast do you need to strap? Your strapping application should match the production and packaging rate of the rest of your process. You don’t want bottlenecks at the strapping center, nor do you want to pay for speed that is not necessary. Generally, increased speed will mean increased costs; so make sure you know how much speed is necessary.
Note: the critical factor with fully automatic machines is the total strap rate, which includes transit time through the conveying system. The Semi-Automatic Machines: 10-15 straps per minute, conveyor speed of your fully automatic strapping depending on the skillset of the operator machine must be at least as fast as your existing Arch Machines and Fully Automatic Machines: 30-70 conveyors, but preferably faster. Don’t design a straps per minute, depending on the skill of the operator strapping bottleneck.
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What features do you really need? There are a few options available on semi-automatic machines, but they are usually applicable to specific types of applications. There are, however, a host of options available on both arch and fully automatic units. Selecting which are appropriate for your application will determine the machine you need and your total purchase cost.
How do I maintain my strapping machine? Like any piece of industrial equipment, a strapping machine requires maintenance. Good maintenance procedures on a strapping machine include documented preventative maintenance, checking all belts, switches, connections, and wear parts. Beyond that, there are three key areas that will maximize uptime.
Use good strap. For consistent operation you need strap that is consistent in width and gauge, and has minimal curve. Many machine problems actually turn out to be strap problems. Dust is the enemy of strapping machines. A certain amount of poly dust is normal; however, to minimize its impact on the strapping machine, blow it out with compressed air on a daily basis. Stock critical parts. Every manufacturer or distributor should able to give you a list of recommended spare parts. Even if you get overnight parts service, stocking critical parts is recommended. Most repairs are relatively simple, and having the parts can get you up and running in minutes rather than hours or days.
AUTOMATION SAVES MONEY: THE MAIN WAYS TO JUSTIFY THE COST Return on investment: it can be difficult justifying to upper management the need to spend money on a machine to replace an already established process. A careful analysis of the actual quantified savings can help even the staunchest cost-conscious manager start to think twice.
SAVINGS THROUGH DAMAGE REDUCTIONS The scariest word to anyone who does any packaging is damage. Damaged products equal lost revenues because damaged products usually need repair or replacement and can cause customer dissatisfaction and abandonment. Whether visible or not, the cost of damage each year is too high. It’s widely understood that 0.5 percent of all products are lost to damage that happens somewhere between production and sale.
It may not sound like much, but consider this: Proctor and Gamble’s annual sales total around $84 billion, so a damage rate of 0.5% equates to $420 million in lost sales. Those are some serious losses. All told, globally, damages amount to about $84 billion in profit loses per year.
Protection from Case Assembly to Palletization When people pack their product in correctly assembled cases, provide the right void fill options, and ensure proper case closure, they're implementing the many elements that ensures an effective shipping program and maximized profits.
It’s even more important to have square cases when the case is made from less material; manufacturers are redesigning primary packages with reduced material content to make them more environmentally friendly. This frequently results in more fragile boxes that are less likely to be able to stand up to the rigors of shipping. Luckily, the design and engineering elements of a box work together when they are properly assembled and sealed.
Automated case erectors ensure that the boxes coming off their lines are both reinforced appropriately and squared up, meaning that they’re ready to hold any product necessary, including those heavy ones that an unstable, hand-assembled box may not be able to handle.
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Tape is the most common type of closure used in shipping. According to UPS, improper tape application is the leading cause of closure failure on a shipped box. Inconsistently sealed boxes create weak seals, leading to potential theft, damage, or product contamination. Machine sealed boxes are more securely sealed, significantly reducing costly product damage resulting from sloppily assembled and sealed cases.
Once cases are assembled, packed, and sealed, larger shipments are placed on pallets. Recent studies have shown that approximately 14% of loads were not wrapped to the pallets on which they are shipped and that nearly 9% of loads with stretch wrap applied had issues that could cause instability and result in damage to the shipment. It is critical to remember that using stretch wrap alone is not enough; it must be tied to the pallet base to provide maximum stability.
Remember the primary reason you wrap loads is to provide protection during shipment. Every time you put a load in the back of a truck, you run the risk of it being damaged during transit. Think of all the reasons loads can fail in transit: all of those things are out of your control. However, by creating stable loads and wrapping them properly, it is possible to recover up to as much as 50% of your potential lost products.
And, while manual labor may seem like a cheaper alternative than expensive machines, it’s impossible to produce the same results as a machine. People might do a decent job at first, but after a while they become tired and produce substandard work. Machines have the ability to perform the same task again and again without jeopardizing quality. The last box erected, packed, sealed, loaded and wrapped is done just as well as the first.
IMPROVED PROCESSES MEAN INCREASED OUTPUT Automation has overtaken all parts of the process in manufacturing and distribution. If your facility has automated up the line and you’re putting out over 100 units per minute, you need to find a way to be able to pack at a rate that will match the products coming off the line. Even employing multiple people will, unfortunately, leave a lot of room for error and downtime.
It goes without saying that the key to successful warehouse operations is smooth, efficient product flow. But inevitable bottlenecks will form along the line, especially if you’ve got a lot of people trying to package. What can you do to keep product flowing and maximize throughput?
One person can erect about three cases per minute; one automated case erector can assemble approximately 27 boxes per minute. That’s an increase of an astonishing 900%. Now consider how many cases your facility has to erect in one day. That increase not only has ramifications up the production line, but on the bottom line, as well.
Additionally, cases that are not perfectly square lose up to 30% of their stacking strength. It has been proven that machines make cases better than people. Case erector machines form cases with the maximum probability of product protection and employ all the quality elements of a box, building it the way it was designed to be built. Hand assembled boxes are, more often than not, unsquared, making them weaker when stacked on pallets and more prone to damage during shipping and handling.
Imagine being able to seal nearly 40 uniform boxes a minute. Or being able to seal 20 random boxes a minute. How much more yield is that than hand sealing? By having someone hand seal each box, you may be only seeing 10 to 15 boxes going through in a minute, potentially less if you’re having someone who is constantly having to redo the tape seal.
If your production line has multiple size boxes coming down the conveyer, as is the case for e-commerce companies, many case sealers can automatically adjust to different size and shape cases. Whether or not
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your case sealer can automatically detect differences and adjust accordingly, all case sealers are fairly easy to manipulate and adjust, decreasing downtime and increasing productivity.
And when you’re moving at faster rates, you need more labor to produce and meet the demands of production. Machines can work long hours, as well as at night and on weekends, providing an overall increase in productivity. A cost comparison of skilled workers versus an automated system is the best analysis to determine if increased productivity can offset any human staff-related costs.
Honestly, even the most efficient workers couldn’t compete with a machine. No matter how good your workers may be, they will never be able to work tirelessly and perform consistently without ever needing breaks or taking personal days.
REDUCTIONS IN LABOR COSTS SAVES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR The cost of labor is steadily going up. In 2014, the Employment Cost Index recorded its largest increase in 5 ½ years for the cost of US labor. With an average increase of 2% annually, labor costs will continue to be a large factor when it comes to total cost of doing business.
Companies report that up to 60% of their total packaging costs are labor-related. Even at minimum wage, paying one person for a 40 hour work week, to do nothing but erect and seal or hand wrap pallets and move them onto the truck, and you’re likely spending approximately $15,000 a year just on wages. If you are a large enough facility and you’ve got five people doing the same job to accommodate all of your production lines, that’s a staggering $75,000 just in wages to have people doing, by hand, what a machine can do. And that doesn’t count the overhead of managing those employees.
Then, take into account their inconsistency, their inevitable over usage of materials, and the propensity for damage when you compare manual work to machine work and the total cost quickly sky rockets. And that’s just for one year. Next year, you’ll see an average rise of 2% in labor costs, as has been the trend the last few years.
Despite the rise in labor costs, it’s possible to trim some costs in ways you may have never imagined. Ask yourself: will a machine cost more over its expected life than the labor you’d be replacing would cost? Can labor costs be saved elsewhere by freeing up expensive manpower for more valuable positions in your facility? And does it remove workers from safety risks that could cause accidents or injuries?
You can actually avoid some of these tedious steps when you automate your packaging process. When you eliminate unnecessary steps, you eliminate labor inefficiencies, refocusing them to other, more necessary tasks.
If you’re shipping 2,500 cases a day, based on the standard hand assembly statistics, it would take one person nearly 14 hours to complete without a break. So, that realistically means you’d probably have two people working full 8 hour shifts just to complete the assembly of the number of cases that you need. If you take the 900% increase, the case erector will get those cases assembled in about 2 hours; even if you ran at a modest 5 times increase, you’d get the full 2,500 cases assembled in under 4 hours.
Now consider that hand packing and sealing boxes doesn’t seem like it would be something big, but it is highly labor intensive. One person using a case sealer can process, in five minutes, what someone hand sealing can do in thirty minutes. If a facility is shipping out thousands of cases a day, they’re employing a team of workers to erect, pack, and seal cases.
Imagine the ramifications of just one person calling in sick to an entire day’s production cycle. Even something as small as a 10% reduction in labor can help to offer significant savings in the long run.
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With automated packaging machines at the end of production lines, facilities can reduce labor while increasing output. Many machines need either minimal or no human interaction to run. Decreasing the amount of human contact with the ACTUAL CUSTOMER EXAMPLE packaging process can either free employees to redirect their attention to other tasks or to reduce Through the elimination of a Sunday shift to manually workforce numbers. prepare boxes for busy Monday mornings of packing and shipping products, the company was able to drop their per This rapidity translates up and down the line, with box rate from 6.7 cents to 1.5 cents each, equaling a total of automation equaling more product being put out 77% reduction in costs assembling the same number of boxes. with less workforce demand. Not only are you providing more cases to be packed at a faster rate, you also don’t have to provide salary, benefits, and training to your machines. And it will always be at the ready: no vacation or sick days needed.
Think about this: according to U.S. Department of Labor estimates, the median age of the manufacturing workforce rose by nearly 4 years in the first decade of the 21st century. And the Society of Manufacturing Engineers “predicts that the shortfall of skilled workers could increase to 3 million jobs by 2015 due to the aging manufacturing workforce.”1
While it is likely impossible to automate every job, finding ways to reduce labor hours is one way to proactively attack the projected skills gap. If you need fewer unskilled workers, you can concentrate on ways to better train and retain skilled workers running your operation.
SAVINGS THROUGH DECREASES IN MATERIAL USAGE ON THE LINE Anytime that you can reduce the percentage of material used, but keep the same production levels or, even, increase your output quantity, you’re automatically saving money.
By moving from hand taping to machine sealing, you can see an increase in productivity and decrease in materials costs. Imagine you are hand taping and you are using an average of 4 inches of tape per box; if you were able to decrease that by just 1.25 inches, sealing 40,000 boxes per year, you’re looking at a tape material savings of nearly $5,500 in just one year.
Consider the following: someone hand sealing boxes will use more tape than a machine. Take using a 17 inch piece of tape to seal a 12 inch box; the difference is striking. An automated sealer uses a single 1,500 yard roll of tape to yield an output of 3,176 boxes; by comparison, a person would utilize a 220 yard roll and yield only 110 boxes, equating to 6,352 yards of tape to achieve the same result as the machine.2 A 1,500 yard roll of tape will cost less per inch and will be need to be replaced far less than a 220 yard roll, potentially saving hundreds of dollars per year.
And, on average, machine tape is 30% less expensive than hand tape. There’s a huge savings factor right there, and that’s before you consider the rest of the savings.
Ensuring that stretch film is stretched to its full potential will not only improve load integrity, but it will also save you money when it comes to material usage.
1 http://www.harvan.com/blog/automation-advantages-and-disadvantages/ 2 “Evaluating automated vs. manual case taping.” http://leadwise.mediadroit.com/files/2671Loveshaw_casetaping.pdf
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Because of its inherent elasticity, wrap that is stretched before applied, or pre-stretched wrap, naturally tightens after application, allowing for a stronger hold with less product. Stretch wrap machines use two rollers to turn at two different speeds, stretching the film as it leaves the machine and wraps around the pallet; these are standard on most machines and can be adjusted to offer up to 300% stretch.
What pre-stretch allows for is an increase in product yield.
Roll Size 100% 200% 300% 4,000 ft 8,000 ft 12,000 ft 16,000 ft 6,000 ft 12,000 ft 18,000 ft 24,000 ft 9,000 FT 18,000 ft 27,000 ft 36,000 ft
If you’re tripling your product yield, you’re automatically saving money. For instance, if you’re ordering a pallet of stretch wrap once a month, you could potentially find yourself ordering a pallet once a quarter.
If it typically costs you $1,500 for a pallet of stretch wrap, well, then you’ve just saved $3,000 in just one quarter.
In addition to the benefits of using machines to pre-stretch the film, moving away from hand wrapping allows for consistency in wrapping techniques. Instead of Worker A using 6 wraps per pallet, Worker B using 10 wraps, and Worker C using between 7 and 9 wraps, all of the pallets will be wrapped 4 times by the machine, uniformly and consistently, saving the extra wraps that Workers A, B, and C were completing and the extra product they were using to do so.
IMPROVING WORKER ERGONOMICS AND SAFETY CAN ALSO SAVE YOU MONEY Another hidden cost saving initiative that automating your packaging process can provide is an increase in worker health and safety. Musculoskeletal injuries are the leading cause of employees missing work. Non-fatal workplace injuries related to musculoskeletal disorders cost businesses more than $21 billion every year and account for over 40% of total cost burdens to business.
These risk factors often affect operators who manually package products in facilities just like yours: • Lifting, pushing, or pulling heavy objects • Working in awkward positions • Performing the same or similar tasks repetitively • Bending and/or reaching
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were nearly 400,000 musculoskeletal injuries in 2013; approximately one quarter of those injuries were because of worker motion or position. While the BLS doesn’t carry cost data about these injuries, various sources suggest that the average back injury (sprain/strain) can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 in direct costs and from $30,000 to $100,000 in indirect costs. And none of that includes the liability involved in an actual lawsuit and settlement or judgment.
Some machines can even eliminate steps that create their own safety hazards. For example, whether you realize it or not, cardboard is very sharp and can cause cuts for workers who aren’t being extremely careful, especially if they’re trying to speed through to keep up with production. And a cardboard papercut is seriously painful.
And it’s not just about repetitive motion injuries or paper cuts. It costs US businesses over $15 billion a year to manage the costs of injuries resulting from falls. Slips and falls account for 15% of accidental deaths in warehouses, 25% of injury claims, and a whopping 95 million lost work days per year. Aisles
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and walkways that are unorganized and crowded can cause tripping hazards, especially if you’ve got lots of people moving around a packaging area to keep up with the demand.
OSHA has the ability to fine facilities for what you might even consider a “minor” infraction, such as cluttered or unorganized walkways: up to $7,000 for first timers and up to $70,000 for repeat offenders.
The use of automated equipment is an effective way to prevent worker injuries. Many of today’s automated production devices keep workers a safe distance from the more hazardous areas of work. Human staff is still needed to operate and program the equipment, but the actual hands-on work is left to the machine, protecting the health and safety of staff.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SUPPLIER FOR YOUR END-OF-LINE AUTOMATION MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE Finding a packaging equipment or consumable supplier is pretty easy. If you are reading this, it may be because you have found it by searching online. Searching online has taking a lot of the guesswork out of finding all types of suppliers.
By typing the type of equipment or consumable you’re looking for into any search engine, you will end up with thousands of choices. Most may be little more than amateur web pages with a couple of pictures, a price, and a biased statement about the greatness of the product. You’ll find refurbished ones on eBay or internationally imported ones with low price tags and even lower quality.
Don’t waste your time on a search, a website, or a salesperson who is not making an effort to help you determine what you actually need. Try a more detailed search and take the time to find websites that have valuable content for review. Reputable companies will take the time and effort to provide information; they are not looking for the quick sale, rather they are developing trust and building relationships.
There are many companies that will sell you anything you’re looking for, but most have very little knowledge about how the products that they’re selling really work. They will ask you what you are looking for and will quote a few cents lower than what you may be currently paying. However, it’s exactly this flea-market mentality that provides no value in the long term because a few cents saved today may end up costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next five years.
EXPERIENCE When choosing a supplier, the goal is to find one who has a great deal of experience in the market in which you are operating; suppliers who are well-versed in e-commerce may not be able to provide you the same expertise and knowledge if you’re in heavy automotive component manufacturing. And longevity isn’t always the key; you need to find someone well versed in the industry that you’re in.
The truly reputable suppliers will be able to provide background on their experience. They will be able to provide customer testimonials and they will be willing to provide ways to prove that they stand behind their sales.
CUSTOMIZED AND PERSONAL SERVICE It is critical to make sure that they have the ability to provide information based on your specific needs. They must have knowledge about how to improve consistency and quality; they must understand what it takes to eliminate potential bottlenecks or how the size, shape, and scope of your production will be taken into account when providing information about placing new machinery into your facility.
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An order-taker is great if that’s all you want; if you want to click a button to add something to your online shopping cart without interacting with anyone, using a quick and easy site may fit best. However, if you’ve gone through the process of determining your needs, you need someone who can walk you through every step of the process.
From an individual Account Manager to a dedicated Parts and Service Department, finding a supplier who can manage your account from beginning to end counts enormously.
HOW MUCH OF A ROLE DOES PACKAGE ENGINEERING PLAY? Packaging engineers are more in demand than ever. Time to market is critical; damage prevention is essential. When it comes to packaging products, many companies are turning to professional packaging engineers, either on-staff or as an outsourced asset to their manufacturing or production facility.
What a packaging engineer can bring to the table can range from design conceptualization to product placement; all the steps of the manufacturing process must be taken into account in the design of packaging.
In 2013, Logic Packaging, headquartered in Greer, South Carolina, did a survey of companies who use package engineering services in their operations. They found that more than 80% of companies are looking for someone who can assist them in reducing shipping damages, reducing packaging expenses, and reducing transportation and material costs.
With a heavy emphasis on package engineering and improving automation, finding a supplier with knowledgeable engineers on staff can be a great asset when looking for someone to be a partner in packaging.
CHOOSE A COMPANY WITH NUMEROUS CAPABILITIES AND OFFERINGS UNDER ONE ROOF The last thing you want when you talk to a supplier is being forced to choose a product that is not going to fit your company’s needs. It is critical to talk to a supplier who represents multiple product lines, technologies, and manufacturers. Not only will they be more knowledgeable about the general marketplace, there won’t be a push to pick one product over another; it will only be about what your specific facility needs.
Finding a neutral dealer who can demonstrate expertise in multiple different industries and product lines may seem difficult, but there are companies in the marketplace that are willing to do whatever they can to win your business. And that may not be offering you the lowest price; it may, in fact, be offering you something a little higher than the dealer down the street, but that they can back up with support, service, engineers, and long-time relationships with manufacturers that will end up saving you thousands of dollars down the line.
FIND A COMPANY THAT UNDERSTANDS SCALABILITY While you are buying for today’s specific needs, don’t forget that tomorrow will be here before you know it. Looking for a company who understands how to prepare for the future will save you the time and headaches of having to go through the same process in a couple of years.
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IPS Packaging | 10 Jack Casey Court, Fountain Inn, SC 29644 | www.ipack.com | 1.800.277.7007