5 Reasons to Make the Switch to Automated Packaging Systems

If you’re a business owner or executive, you’re constantly looking for ways to grow your company’s bottom line. Anything that lowers your costs – or boosts your sales – is a huge win for your company. What if we told you that automated packaging systems could do both?

We’re covering how automated packaging systems can not only save your company money but improve your sales. These systems can boost your bottom line like few other investments and are well worth looking into for any business that sells consumer goods at retail.

So, how do automated packaging systems work? We’ll go over this and more. 

1. Keeping Up With Increased Demand

One important aspect of any manufacturing process is scalability, the ability to package more – or less – product as quickly as possible with as little loss in efficiency as possible. This allows you to respond quickly to spikes in demand for a particular product, or scale back packaging of products that weren’t as popular as anticipated. By producing the exact amount of product you need, you can maximize efficiency, lowering your cost per unit.

Another benefit of automated packaging systems is that they allow for easy use of green packaging materials, such as biodegradable corn and soy-based plastic pouch packages. This isn’t just good for the environment, it can also help you sell your products; according to a recent survey, 72 percent of millennials are willing to pay extra for a product if it comes from an environmentally friendly brand.

So not only is automated packaging scalable, but it is also environmentally-friendly and it can help you boost your sales.

2. Reducing Manual Labor Costs

For the majority of manufacturing businesses, labor is the largest controllable cost. This makes it a huge opportunity for cutting down on controllable expenses, and automated packaging systems allow you to cut back on payroll while simultaneously producing more of your product than ever before.

Consider a traditional bottling plant. Anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen employees are needed to work a single line. Conversely, a modern spout-and-fill pouch packaging machine can be run by just one or two people, with one or two others to shuttle supplies back and forth as needed.

Cutting back on manual labor also reduces another major business expense: on-the-job injuries. The fewer people who are involved in operating your machines, the fewer opportunities there are for somebody to get hurt.

3. Cutting Waste and Emissions

In running your business, part of being a good corporate citizen is considering the environmental impact of your operations. Manufacturing waste is a huge part of that equation. According to the EPA, discarded product packaging makes up 23 percent of landfill waste. Considering the large percentage of waste that is simply impossible to eliminate, such as used diapers, tissues, and plastic wrap, packaging makes up a significant percentage of avoidable waste.

But reducing the volume of your packaging can also save you money. This is particularly true in shipping, where every pound of packaging increases transportation costs. Sustainable packaging is more lightweight, reducing the cost of shipping your packages to your plant.

In the past, we’ve explained how a truckload of flexible pouch packaging can carry as much volume of packaging as 35 truckloads of rigid packaging. That adds up to 97 percent lower transportation costs. And that’s just the cost of getting your packages to market.

Not only that, but more and more markets worldwide are introducing taxes on carbon emissions. The fewer trucks you’re running, the lower your tax bill will be.

4. Keeping Pace With Modern Technology

Another important aspect of running any business is being prepared for the future. A business 100 years ago, for example, would need to be prepared for the automobile if it were going to be successful. Conversely, a business that focuses on investing in horse-and-buggy supplies would only be preparing for failure.

Similarly, modern manufacturers need to keep in mind that the manufacturing economy is changing rapidly. With the rise of the gig economy, fewer workers are tied to tedious factory jobs, and those who are working in factories are becoming more and more educated, with responsibility for more and more aspects of operation.

Trying to run your factory with old-school manual equipment is a recipe for disaster. Even if you’re somehow able to attract qualified workers at a rate you can afford, you’re not going to be as efficient as your fully-automated competitors.

5. Possibilities For Higher Productivity and Growth

Finally, we’ve already talked about scalability and the ability to boost productivity, but it’s important to discuss exactly how automated packaging systems can offer this. To begin with, you’re able to reduce labor and environmental costs. By producing more goods for the same cost, you’re able to lower your prices and extend the reach of your brand, all while growing your profit margin.

This is a three-way win, and it’s hard to argue against automation when you’re looking at it in this light. Automated packaging also helps in one other way as well; it typically makes packages harder for shoplifters to tamper with, boosting retailer confidence in placing your product on their shelves.

How Karlville Can Help

This is just a quick look at the ways in which automated packaging systems can both save your company money and increase your appeal to customers, not an exhaustive overview. Moreover, there’s more to automated packaging than meets the eye, and it’s easy to get lost in the weeds if you’re not familiar with this aspect of the packaging industry.

Karlville’s experts are here to help. Contact us today for more information, or call our main office in Florida at (305)-533-1051. We specialize in pouch packaging machines, which fill some of the most environmentally-friendly and customer packages on the market.