Wrapping and end of line automation
The demand for fully automatic end-of-line packaging machines is growing rapidly, especially in the food industry – but not only. The reasons are as varied as they are obvious.
End of line packaging automation primarily involves packaging products ready for sale at the end of the production line. This is why we also speak of sales packaging or secondary packaging. Secondary packaging is supposed to support the brand image, but also to attract consumers, inform them and encourage them to buy.
Why is the demand for end-of-line automation increasing?
- Increase in the demand for food of the world population
The world population will have passed the 9 billion mark by 2050. The increase in wealth and growth leads to a rapid increase in the demand for food. To meet the increasing demand, sustainable, efficient and innovative food production processes are needed. Automation at the end of the line can help.
- Labor shortage
The population is getting older. At the same time, it is increasingly difficult to find enough workers for this rather simple, difficult and poorly paid job. Automation at the end of the line can help compensate for the understaffing at this point, so that valuable employees can be employed in key positions.
- Production Safety
Corona has shown it: People can get sick and be immobilized for long periods of time, but machines cannot. Automation at the end of the line therefore also means high production reliability.
- Food safety
Consumers are increasingly critical. Food must be fresh, 100% safe for your health and traceable. End-of-line automation reduces human intervention in the production process and therefore the sources of error.
- Personalization
Automation at the end of the line enables dynamic and flexible production processes. Small batches, different variations or last-minute changes are always major challenges for manual end-of-line packaging solutions.
What makes a good end-of-line packaging solution?
On the one hand, the packaging process at the end of the production line must be extremely efficient in order to avoid any bottlenecks. For example, multiple packages can be filled into crates much faster than individual products. On the other hand, secondary packaging should be chosen in such a way that consumers react to it – aspects such as frustration-free opening, overall reduction of packaging waste or disposal or reduction of plastic play a role. here an important role. Finally, the automatic packaging solution at the end of the production line must be flexible enough to cope with the increase in production on the one hand, and the diversity of products and packaging materials on the other hand.
