How Can Automation Benefit Your Company?

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Have you ever wondered if your production line is reaching its full potential? Have you ever been frustrated by not reaching your quotas, having to hire more staff to increase productivity, or having your production be impacted by damage, labor shortage, lengthy manual processes, or human error? Making the switch from packaging by hand to automation can be a game-changer in many ways, and if you answered “yes” to any of these questions, your return on investment could be closer than you think.

Decreased Waste

Banding, in general, is a way to decrease waste in comparison to other packaging alternatives, such as shrink-wrapping, inner cartons, etc. You can replace these alternatives with a simple paper or film band that is securely welded with an ultrasonic seal. Automation allows you to decrease even more waste by producing the same result every time and decreasing possible damage to a product. While manual operators play an important part in your production, mistakes happen and human error is inevitable. But switching from manual operators to banding with automation allows products to be handled less, thus reducing the risk of human error. An operator could make a mistake and cause damage to a product, or have to re-do steps to fix an error. Automation produces fewer mistakes which means time saved and less material wasted on errors.

Lower Operating Costs
More automation in your process means less labor required. As of 2019, the United States unemployment rate is going down and currently at 3.6%, while minimum wage and healthcare costs are on the rise. Finding quality employees for laboring positions are becoming harder to fill. Manual operators who are dedicated to the throughput and repetitiveness of a production process can be hard to find. According to PayScale, who conducted a survey of 454 jobs comparing their sense of job meaning and satisfaction, by-hand packagers have only a 34% meaningfulness rate. Automation allows for the repurposing of those employees to play a part in a more satisfying area to them. Additionally, during a time when sanitation and cleanliness are of dire need, automating your production takes that many more hands off of your products.

Improved Quality
The greater number of people physically involved in the packaging process, the greater your chances are of having errors, or even employee injuries. Automation gives you the comfort of consistency. With a well running, functioning piece of automation equipment, you get the proper results every cycle.

Increased Productivity
Manual operators can only do so much. Automation presents the opportunity for faster speeds and higher throughput, without needing breaks or days off. For a company, this not only means you can get products out the door faster, but it improves your ability to be able to scale and grow as a company. We offer machines, depending on your product and bundle size, which could potentially band up to 300 products per minute – well over the amount that an operator could do by hand. In today’s world, having the capacity to respond quickly in times of demand can make or break a company. Being able to save on material and labor costs while pushing more product out the door can have a profound impact on not only your company, but on your customers and others who are part of the supply chain.