Packaging Automation Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Optimizing CapEx using end-of-line packaging automation: Companies have been emphasizing improving intralogistics, primarily the automation of picking and sortation activities. This has provided an impetus to the throughput by saving labor costs and time.  However, for optimal operations of assembly lines and logistic chains, end-of-line has emerged as a key focus area for companies. Packaging automation in end-of-line operations creates a pathway to optimal capital expenditures and an opportunity for return on investment (ROI) in periods that are shorter than those of popular automation investments, including picking and sorting. End-of-line packaging automation plays a significant role in intralogistics comprising of palletizing, loading, and shipping. It prevents bottlenecks by limiting the accumulation of goods at pack stations more than packers can reasonably handle.
  
  Box sealing and automated height-reduction avoid wastage of packaging materials, thereby, saving logistic costs. End-of-line automation has cascading benefits and potentially improves CapEx through efficiencies in packaging, labor, material, throughput, and shipping costs, thus paving a path for scalability, sustainability, and ROI.  Key players have identified this trend and have significantly fueled their expenditure in mergers and acquisitions. For instance, in June 2024, Pacteon Group acquired Descon Integrated Conveyor Solutions, an integrated conveyor systems provider for the food and beverage sector. This is expected to strengthen Pacteon’s end-of-line packaging automation equipment portfolio, while Descon will leverage the combined strengths to maintain its brand identity.
• Demand for green warehousing and sustainability: Warehousing costs energy and hefty resources. Climate control, lighting, and other operations are all part of the equation that add up to total resource usage. Most of the packaging companies are striving to save on the bottom line and reduce ecological footprints, which makes green logistics an indispensable part of their sustainability strategy. Storage, retrieval, production, packaging, shipping, palletizing, and last-mile delivery are key components of green warehousing and logistics.  In large assembly lines, complex tasks such as picking and placing have become partially or fully automated owing to breakthroughs in machine learning and computer vision.
  
  The advent of Industry 4.0 has led to the newer use cases of these technologies and a positive impact on the environmental carbon footprint.  For example, fitting packaging robotization in the circular economy by applying automated volume reduction, large volumes of packages can be accommodated in pallets has reduced carbon footprint. The UN Sustainable Development Guidelines (SDGs) outline ESG strategies and provide necessary policies to regulate the packaging automation market. This has fostered the innovation of flexible automation solutions for logistics companies. In 2023, Falcon Plastics announced their R&D efforts to develop a Universal Robot UR10e, end-of-arm tooling, and auxiliary equipment for auto bagging.
  
  FalconPlastics aims to automate repetitive tasks such as bagging and heat sealing. The collaborative robot and automatic bagging machine are estimated to accomplish a low footprint.  The automation has showcased promising results by improving packaging efficiency from 35% to 77% and reduced production run time from 200 to 80 days. Similar ongoing innovations is anticipated to diversify collaborative application of the packaging automation market.

Challenge

• High maintenance cost: The cost of equipment will substantially increase as a result of the integration of cutting-edge technologies and the hiring of skilled labor. Furthermore, because these machines are used continuously and regularly, proper and periodic maintenance may be required, which could result in extra costs. Additionally, the implementation of more stringent government laws about worker safety when utilizing automated packaging solutions may also impede the uptake of the product.