Aug. 11, 2025
Packaging keeps products safe and makes them look attractive. Although it is the final step in your production line, it is the first thing your customers see. So, it needs to be attractive and consistent to be effective.
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Manual packaging can be time-consuming and cause employee fatigue. Further, it may lead to a waste of packaging material and inconsistency. Moreover, it may not be cost-effective.
Packaging automation is using automatic or semi-automatic machinery at various stages of the packaging process, such as filling, wrapping, labeling and palletizing. Almost all industries can benefit from packaging automation equipment, especially since material handling can be challenging in this age of rising ecommerce.
Many types of packaging machinery, including wrappers and palletizers, are available these days. You can use any of those, depending on your products’ specifications.
Whichever automated packaging machinery you choose, you can be assured of many or all of the following advantages.
Quality: Automated systems are accurate and consistent because they have precise, standardized settings. They help improve product quality, cycle time and operations in general.
Productivity: Manually packaging pallets, boxes and other products can be difficult and time-consuming. Your workers may become tired from the repetitive, monotonous and strenuous activity. Machines can work much longer at full efficiency. They also offer much higher speeds.
Product care: If you use the right machinery, your products can be securely packaged. For example, a good stretch wrapping machine will ensure that the products are well-wrapped and safe from contamination. This increases the durability and shelf life of products.
Employee safety: Studies show that 20 percent of forklift accidents are caused when people walk on warehouse floors. Similarly, manual wrapping and palletizing can cause cuts, tears and back injuries. By introducing automated packaging systems, you can make your warehouses safer. You can ensure that your operators remain on the forklifts and also avoid other injuries.
Expenses: Although it may seem expensive, the benefits of automation include recovering the costs in a matter of months. You may also be eligible for tax benefits, such as the write-offs and depreciation under Section 179 of the Tax Cuts and Job Act of .
Automated packing ushers in increased productivity. Machinery can perform more tasks in less time than your employees. This saves time and labor costs. You can also save on packaging material and storage space, thus, making shipping and handling more cost-effective.
Many automated processes have a self-vacuuming function to remove dust and dirt in the machines. This means there is no real need for costly maintenance.
Low wastage: Machines are economical in using packaging material. They cut the material precisely and maximize its use by using well-defined patterns. This streamlines the packaging process and reduces waste of materials.
Sustainability: Many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) now manufacture packaging machinery with sustainability in mind. Such machinery not only offers good return on investment (ROI), but also is beneficial for the environment. They use fewer materials and have lesser greenhouse gas emissions.
Specialized packaging: If you have many products and different packaging sizes, a semi-automated solution would suit you better than a wholly automated one. Regardless of how diverse your products are, you can find suitable packaging machinery for it. Moreover, by automating packaging, you can change the outline for a case or pallet quickly.
Customer confidence: People buy products if they are pleasing to the eye. One of the other advantages of automation is having packaging with accurate information. This creates a good impression and helps promote the brand. Moreover, consumers are able to keep machine-wrapped products much longer than by refrigeration alone. This increases the demand for items packed by machinery.
When starting a packaging project, many questions arise about the configuration of the line, the adaptability to the production itself, connectivity and communications, etc. An end-of-line project, and in particular pallet packaging, has a great technical complexity with many particularities and elements to be agreed upon by the engineering departments of the manufacturer and the customer.
Without going into too much detail and technicalities, in this article, we have compiled the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that arise when approaching a new packaging project and their respective answers from our experience in a multitude of end-of-line projects.
Note: We define a packaging line as the end of the line after palletizing the product in its primary or secondary packaging. It is therefore the tertiary packaging line or pallet packaging, ready for storage and shipment.
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A packaging line is composed of systems to protect and hold the product for transport and storage. It always includes at least one system that provides protection and support, such as the Stretch Hood or the Automatic Stretch Wrapper) If necessary, depending on the type of product and characteristics of the project, it also includes other fastening systems such as pallet strapping systems, wrapping machines for support, sealing system, etc.
In each project, it is necessary to study in detail the integration with the customer’s existing palletizing and production line. The engineering team evaluates, studies, and designs the line elements that best fit the customer’s needs, looking for an optimal connection and smooth flow.
Integration aspects of being taken into account for the integration with the end of the line:
It is possible to integrate, a priori, all packaging systems that the customer demands or that the project requires. The limit is the facility space. Once again, the Technical Engineering department looks for the best combination of the necessary systems, prioritizing the final packaging objectives and space optimization. Even if the customer requests more systems, each project is studied to see their need according to the fundamental objectives.
For example:
In principle, the automatic packaging line is designed to fully automate the end of the line, but there are occasions when the customer’s facility or production can continue to use semi-automatic systems.
When defining a line project, a pallet flow is designed in which everything from the input to the output after the final stretch hooding is automatic. To guarantee productivity, it is not recommended to “stop” this process to include a semi-automatic system in the middle of the line. But there may be some exceptions where there are manual or semi-automatic systems before or after the packaging line, the most common being pallet transport vehicles.
Some examples of the co-existence of automatic and semi-automatic systems:
Whenever required by the client, we try to ensure that the new packaging line is as compatible as possible with the existing conveying systems. If this is a renovation of the installation and the existing conveyor line is in good condition and meets the requirements to adapt to the new systems, it could be used. Another type of adaptation would be to connect the line to the existing conveying system through connection and elevation systems.
If we are referring to Innova’s Stretch Hood system only, the line can be located in installations with a smaller footprint than usual. In addition to the fact that the Stretch Hood machine is designed to occupy as little space as possible, the conveyor line can be adapted as much as possible to the customer’s facilities, using the connection, rotation, and elevation systems, as mentioned in previous questions.
Although this is one of the most frequently asked questions, the answer differs greatly from case to case. At Innova, our standard packaging line with Stretch Hood is designed for the most standard pallets in several sectors such as construction, ceramics, chemical, agrifood, etc. We work with minimum pallet measures of 32 x 24 inches (800 x 600 mm), a maximum of 80 x 55 inches ( x mm), and heights up to 100 inches (2.500 mm). If you have a different size or very different pallets, please contact us without commitment and we will study the feasibility of your project according to the packaging systems that your production needs.
In a total end-of-line automation project, it is common to include AGVs / LGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles) used to transport pallets from the palletizing line to the packaging line and from there to the logistics warehouse. Even so, it is very common for this type of vehicle to coexist with semi-automatic vehicles, such as forklifts with drivers or motorized pallet trucks.
Innova’s packaging line is prepared for access by all types of transport vehicles, using ground-level transport systems for pallet trucks or roller conveyors adapted to AGV infeed.
In a packaging line project, it is essential that the packaging line communicates and agrees with the existing system. In the case of Innova’s line, we connect with the most common PLC systems. We offer integrations and compatibility with PLC systems such as Omron, Siemens, Rockwell, or Schneider.
Check without commitment the compatibility with the system of your factory.
Yes, packaging, like any factory production process, is an element of Industry 4.0. Packaging automation is an essential step towards Industry 4.0 since most of the packaging systems are already interconnected with the production system and ERP of the company.
In the case of Innova’s packaging line, we have intelligent components that offer performance reporting, remote connection to the line, fault diagnosis, and predictive maintenance of wear and possible repairs.
In short, all questions must be clarified at the time of the definition and design of the packaging line project. At Innova, our Engineering and Technical-Commercial Consulting teams study every detail and requirement to achieve optimal, efficient, and high-quality packaging.
For more Inclined Vertical Packaging Machineinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
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