last word
The last WORD
Don’t run before you can walk By Alan Yates
Alan Yates is MD and CEO of Endoline Machinery and PPMA President. For more information visit
www.endoline.co.uk.
‘Don’t run before you can walk’ is a saying we are all familiar with so why is it often forgotten within business? When a company makes the decision to automate they often feel that unless they have thousands of £££’s to spend fully automating their packaging line then they might as well not bother. However as a company we often find ourselves reminding customers that they can build up automation slowly.
W
hile automation can undoubtedly improve productivity and quality
there are also other questions to be asked when automating a line for the first time – such as if your packing machine breaks down can you cope with the added workload until the machine is fixed? A company may also spend thousands on a robotic case packer however if marketing decide to change the packaging of the product the case packer may lay dormant until the robotics can be adapted to suit the change in product. Don’t be afraid to automate, instead take a stepping stones approach to automation – get into bed with a packaging supplier who can see you through the process over time. Look at a way of automation which brings
26 Packaging Gazette
flexibility to suit you - while lowering the risk level. Rather than replacing your workforce with a fully automated line ease your company into the concept – while keeping labour involved to work on the new, more productive packaging line. One example of this would be to invest in a packing station. These stations are ergonomically designed to reduce the effort required to hand pack a wide variety of products by ensuring that products, people and packaging are arranged in the most efficient way possible. Investing in a hand packing station can provide significant short-term savings
and future developments can be accommodated as each system can be upgraded by integrating with any erecting, forming or sealing machine.
Many of the larger companies
such as Tesco and Amazon don’t have fully automated lines preferring to utilise the hand packaging station for flexibility when dealing with a range of differing products on a single line.
Ultimately the decision to
automate is down to the individual customer, however end of line packaging companies need to work with the customer throughout the automation journey - however long it may take. ■
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