In most manufacturing plants, warehouses, and distribution centers, there is a fairly large portion dedicated to packaging. Products must be packaged safely before departing the facility in pursuit of their destinations to remain safe. There are countless goals a packaging operation may hold as priorities, but one every facility has in common is looking for effective ways to increase efficiency in your packaging operation. More efficiency means more profitability, which is a central objective for every business.

Start Palletizing Your Loads

The first step to a more efficient packaging operation is making the decision to palletize shipments. Palletizing is a form of load unitization and protects the products during potentially rough shipments. While palletizing does mean less product can fit in a shipping container or truck per shipment, it also means the load times are cut down drastically, products arrive safer, and workers no longer fight with the physical strain of manual loading.

There are multiple ways to palletize shipments, although unitizing the products via automation is always the more efficient option. Palletizing loads benefits your business in more ways than simply efficiency—it also helps protect your products. Palletization creates one large, stable unit from many smaller items. During shipment non-unitized loads tend to bend, break, fall, or become damaged in other ways. These damaging moves are much less likely to take a toll on the products that are properly palletized.

Automate Your Palletization Process

Making the decision to start palletizing shipment loads is one great way to increase efficiency, but if your pallets are being wrapped by hand there is still a lot of potential for improvement. Automatic palletizing machines are designed to streamline the palletization process. These machines palletize your boxes automatically and ensure the pallet is packed with an even and stable load.

One of the foremost objectives of palletization, besides creating a unitized load, is ensuring everything is properly balanced and ready to wrap. Palletization is not very effective without the latter step of stretch wrapping the packed pallet. This holds the products together with the use of a containment force.

Robopac USA makes top-of-the-line automatic and semi-automatic palletizing machines. These machines work by creating perfectly shaped boxes and stacking them in the right way on pallets, preparing them in the ideal way for stretch wrapping.

Pro Tip: The quality of pallets used matters. Invest in pallets that can adequately hold your loads and keep up with the demands of your operation.

Automate Your Stretch Wrapping Process

The next, and potentially most beneficial, step in the journey to a more efficient packaging operation is automating your stretch wrapping process. Stretch wrapping is a vital element of a properly packaged shipment. It is what keeps loads together and protected. When stretch wrapping is done incorrectly or less than perfectly, it can lead to preventable product damage and needless losses.

Many operations are still hand-wrapping pallets, but this can lead to a slew of problems. Hand wrapping pallets can cause:

  • Worker injuries
  • Pallets that are too loosely wrapped, causing tipping or de-unitization during shipment
  • Pallets that are too tightly wrapped, causing primary packaging damage and strain
  • Slow work speeds
  • Inconsistent quality of wrapping

With an automatic or semi-automatic stretch wrap machine your operation can stop worrying about all of these issues. Stretch wrap machines are designed to wrap pallets consistently perfect without straining workers or slowing speeds.

Robopac USA creates automatic and semi-automatic stretch wrap machines that come with exclusive technology such as R Connect and Cube Technology.

Take Advantage of Remote Monitoring

R Connect is a technology exclusively offered by Robopac USA that allows for accurate remote monitoring of your stretch wrapping machines. This technology allows you to monitor your machines at any time, from anywhere. It has a diagnostic ability, so it is able to alert you for preventative maintenance, emergency stops, and trigger alarms.

This amazing technology eliminates most of the costs of service tech as in-house maintenance is easier than ever. Another exciting feature is the ability to monitor stretch film inventory and alert you based on your supplier’s current lead time for film, so you never run out again.

Enjoy the Benefits of Cube Technology

Cube Technology is another benefit you get when you invest in a Robopac USA stretch wrapping machine. Cube technology ensures your machine delivers the exact right amount of stretch film at the exact right position with the exact right amount of containment force. This precision means a reduction in film cost by up to 55 percent. It also means better load containment, translating to less product damage and more profits for your company. Most companies that switch to a Robopac USA stretch wrap machine with Cube Technology see a reduction in product damage by 40 percent.

Using the right containment force, saving money on film costs, and reducing product damage all while streamlining your operation speeds is the most ideal situation when looking to increase overall packaging operation efficiency.

Improve Organization at Your Facility

One spot that most larger facilities struggle with—be they warehouses, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, or other types—is organization. Many times, time is lost looking for things, digging for supplies, and running back and forth between areas. A little reorganization to help speed along the entire process is something exceptionally advantageous.

Consider reorganizing supplies to make things easy to find by using a labeling or even a computer monitoring system. Reduce time spent running back and forth between areas in your packaging operation by investing in a portable stretch wrapper that can come to the areas, rather than needing to move the areas to the stretch wrapper. Robopac USA offers the Robot S6 portable stretch wrapper that is perfect for applications where time is of the essence and convenience is key. It can help save you time and money by combining organization, accessibility, and efficiency.

There are countless ways to increase efficiency in your packaging operation. The most effective way is by investing in automation. Automating your packaging processes cuts down on labor costs, reduces worker stress, increases efficiency, and leads to a more profitable operation. For more information on what types of automation may benefit your unique packaging operation contact Robopac USA today. Our stretch wrap machines utilize superior technology to ensure your operation is always running smoothly.

Ways To Increase Efficiency in Your Packaging Operation