10 packaging line pitfalls ... and how to avoid them

The process of picking, packing, and shipping an order consists of a series of steps that occur in a defined sequence. Whether that process is completed correctly and on time depends on how well each step is carried out. When automation is involved, an additional factor comes into play: Success also depends on how well the various pieces of equipment used in the process are integrated with each other. In the case of an automated packaging line, that means getting each of the machines&#;carton erectors, shrink wrappers, void fillers, labelers, document inserters, carton sealers, conveyors, and the like&#;to do its job at the right time and at the right speed.

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What if a packaging line doesn't achieve that perfect synchronization? At the very least, backlogs and equipment jams could develop; at worst, the line might stop altogether. It doesn't take much for that to happen; just one mistake or oversight can undermine productivity and reliability.

To find out what could go wrong and how to prevent it, we talked to a systems integrator, a packaging engineer, a third-party logistics (3PL) company executive, and a manufacturer of packaging equipment and systems. Here are their tips for avoiding 10 common packaging line pitfalls.

1. Keep your supplier in the loop. The surest way to bring a packaging line to a halt is to run out of corrugated cardboard, labels, thermal forms, foam cushioning, plastic wrap, or other consumable materials purchased from suppliers. That's generally not a concern when it's business as usual. But if, say, you launch a new product or experience a significant bump in sales, your suppliers might not be able to handle the additional demand, cautions Tyler O'Neill, global packaging engineer for the supply chain services company ModusLink Global Solutions. Regular communication and sharing forecasts will help both parties avoid surprises. "If you think something will change, let your suppliers know," he advises. O'Neill also recommends buying strategically from multiple suppliers to ensure the availability of materials.

2. Inspect before you accept. In a high-volume DC, the last thing you want is for defective packaging materials to be inducted into a line. Examples include misprinted cartons and labels that smudge, to name just a few possibilities. You may not find out there's a problem until orders make it part way through the line, O'Neill says, and if your supplier can't immediately deliver replacements, you might have to shut down the line temporarily. A formal protocol for verifying that all incoming shipments of packaging supplies are correct and up to standard will help you prevent stoppages, he says.

3. Minimize refilling of consumables. The more often you have to refill supplies like label stock, liquids, glue, tape, and the like, the more often you'll have to slow down or stop a line, or take an employee away from a workstation to refill them. "That's why whenever we have any consumables in a packaging line we're designing, we like to put in the largest magazine possible," says Jay Moris, president of systems integrator Invata Intralogistics. Adding extra capacity does add cost, he says, but smaller magazines and reservoirs can negatively affect uptime. Furthermore, if a piece of equipment depends on an operator to notice when consumables are getting low, then a larger container requiring fewer refills will reduce the opportunity for an operator to miss a refill signal or wait too long to replenish supplies.

4. Build in redundancy. Automated packaging equipment is expensive, so buyers may be reluctant to acquire and maintain spare equipment. But if a critical piece of machinery goes down, the resulting delays could be far more costly than the price of a spare. "You can save money if you buy cheaper equipment, use smaller magazines, or don't keep spares, but if you end up with two hours of downtime on Cyber Monday, nobody will care about the money you saved," Moris observes. Anything that could not be handled manually is a candidate for backup; if a box taper went down, for example, taping could be done by hand, albeit more slowly, but a label printer could not be replaced with manual labor. Moris recommends integrating critical spare equipment into the line so that in an emergency, you could immediately switch over to the backup machine, rather than have to pull it out of storage and shut down the line to install it. The extra machine can also keep the line moving while the other is undergoing maintenance or consumables are being refilled.

5. Make it simpler. Using complex packaging that requires a lot of folding and forming in the line can really slow things down. For instance, inserts with multiple folds that take some effort to fit into a box correctly typically require many time-consuming touches and may not be easy for people to master. From the standpoint of speed, says O'Neill, a better choice would be to use a prefabricated unit, like a thermal-formed or pulp-molded tray that can be quickly dropped into the box and fitted around the product.

6. Take operating speed into consideration. Each piece of equipment requires a different amount of time to complete its task. To prevent slower machines from compromising productivity, position them farther down the line if the packing method allows. Moris cites the example of a customer that had to print and insert lengthy packing lists into its orders. Rather than hold things up waiting for the multipage lists to print out, Invata placed the printer/inserter farther downstream. As soon as the ordered items are "married" to a shipping carton, the system instructs the printer to produce the packing list, thus allowing plenty of time for printing before the carton arrives at the document inserter.

7. Pay attention to pacing. If bottlenecks develop on a partially automated line, it could be because the pace at which operators are working is not well matched to the flow and speed of the equipment, says Andy Smith, president of Consumer and Industrial Logistics for Genco, a third-party logistics company that has a packaging division. "For example, you could have eight people working on a line, but if one has a four-minute task and another has a two-minute task, that's where the bottleneck will be," he says. He suggests observing the operators to validate the time required for each task and then balancing the work to maintain the necessary pace and ensure a consistent work flow. Lean techniques such as those used to manage manufacturing production lines can help here.

8. "Shake hands" the right way. If the integration of equipment, software, and control systems is not done properly, an order's progress through the packaging line will be a bumpy one indeed. "You have to make sure the software is programmed correctly, that it works in conjunction with every piece of equipment, and that each piece of equipment works properly with the others," says Louis Suffern, e-commerce solutions manager with Sealed Air's Product Care division. At every juncture, he explains, there will be an electronic "handshake" that signals the next piece of equipment to take over. If takeaway speeds or the timing of the electronic handshake aren't correct, a machine could detect a fault and suspend operations. That's why thorough testing&#;not just of each piece of equipment but also of the software&#;is critical, he says.

9. {Plan for exceptions. In an automated packaging system, errors like incomplete orders, out-of-register printing, and unreadable bar codes are rare, but they do happen. If you don't design in a protocol for handling errors and rejects, the line will end up slowing or stopping every time there's an exception, no matter how small, says Suffern. Ideally, he says, you want a way to resolve problems and get a package back on the automated line with the least amount of disruption and the fewest touches. One option is to automatically divert exceptions down a conveyor to a workstation specifically set up to resolve errors, and then to reinduct the corrected package at the appropriate station on the line. Suffern has also seen systems that scan packing lists to identify missing items and then convey them to the packing station; that way, workers don't have to leave their posts to complete the orders.

10. Design for tomorrow, not just for today. If your packaging line has no flexibility built into it, you're likely to encounter slowdowns when any change comes along, says Genco's Smith. Equipment that can accommodate changes in box size, graphics, labeling, and other attributes will keep things moving without lengthy shutdowns. "You want to have limited changeovers with the least amount of time to switch over for your product mix," he advises. To get an idea of what may be coming down the road, he says, make sure you're informed about new products in development, special promotions, and issues like theft prevention and entry into new markets that could prompt changes in packaging. "It's a mistake to design for what's happening now and not for where you need to be tomorrow," Smith says.

THINK HOLISTICALLY
One last, important piece of advice is not so much about avoiding a pitfall as it is about changing the way you think about automation. Moris of Invata Intralogistics suggests treating a packaging line as a single, integrated entity, rather than as a collection of individual pieces of equipment. "[Automated packaging lines] are not just the sum of their individual components," he says. "They become an entire machine in themselves." By keeping that in mind, DCs can better maintain their packaging lines' productivity and reliability.

One of the primary factors in determining your approach to packaging line automation is to take a look at your existing warehouse environment. Packaging environments differ based on many variables such as the type of business, warehouse layout, and the number and sizes of products to be shipped. As examples, a manufacturing facility may produce products in batches, while an e-commerce fulfillment center may require shipments of single- and multi-item orders. Other facilities may require packaging of small or similar-sized items, while others may have large, heavy and/or odd-shaped products to ship. Each would benefit from automation, but each requires a different automatic packaging solution to achieve the best results.

Since packaging processes can be carried out in a number of different ways based on operational requirements, the best way to optimize your warehouse is to fully assess and understand your existing workflow. With the assistance of an Automated Packaging Professional, you can look at your packaging line holistically to design a customizable solution that matches your product flow, from shelves to shipping.

Although no two packaging environments are alike, every packaging process includes some form of data integration, product transport, carton production, product protection, carton erect, carton packing, sealing, marking, sortation, and business intelligence. See our previous blog post to learn more about this. On Demand Packaging® solutions can enhance processes and flow by integrating with one or more of these 10 features, depending on the workflow environment. The following examples illustrate different packaging environments and the benefits of a customized Packsize system in each.

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Automated Box Last

&#;Box Last&#; is a highly-automated packaging flow designed for manufacturing or distribution facilities that need to pick and package single- or multi-item orders. While utilizing three Packsize machine systems and an integrated software platform, this packaging process produces a right-sized box-last, for the right product, in the right sequence, every time. All 10 features of the packaging process are integrated in this solution.

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This process employs conveyance automation (and also works for non-conveyable or oversized items, from the picking of products). Each product is scanned for dimensional data and placed on warehouse racking. Sortation occurs at the scanner placed on the conveyor before the three shipping trucks.

In this example, the M1 packages large, non-conveyable orders, the X4 handles medium conveyable single- or multi-item orders, and the X7 packages smaller, conveyable, single- or multi-item orders.

A large outdoor retailer has taken big steps to fine-tune packaging in its distribution centers by employing the Right-sized Packaging on Demand &#;box last&#; process, integrating several automated, small-footprint packaging machines to produce custom boxes for every order. Prior to utilizing this process, the company stocked an inventory of boxes, in varying sizes, at several pack stations, wasting time, money, and efficiency. Right-sized packaging lowered their dimensional charges, reduced the cost of materials and labor, all while increasing throughput.

• Customize your solution to match your product flow from shelves to shipping
• Right-sized box is produced last for the right product in the right sequence, every time
• Integration points across your facility will know where to route the order
• Packsize equipment will package products based on key attributes, cut times, and delivery methods

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Automated Box First

&#;Box First&#; is another highly-automated packaging solution that pairs boxes automatically with an order ready to be packed. Each product is scanned for dimensional data and placed on warehouse racking. Items are packed in the box as the box is conveyed through the warehouse racking. Sortation occurs at the scanner placed on the conveyor before the three shipping trucks.

Customize your On Demand Packaging solution to enhance processes and flow

• Packsize equipment enables a right-sized box to be created and routed to the appropriate areas of your distribution center
• Boxes are automatically paired with an order ready to be packed
• Seamless communication built on the PackNet® software foundation enhances flow and provides order analytics

Leading cake decoration supplier DecoPack utilizes a box-first On Demand Packaging solution after realizing the need to increase automation to support higher shipping volumes to its customers. Prior to automating, the company would pick orders into a tote, transport the tote to packing stations and then take the items out to pack into a pre-selected carton chosen from a large box inventory. This process required several workers in pick lines and large amounts of corrugated and void fill. Right-sized packaging provided the automation solution they needed, while reducing time, touch, and travel in their packaging and shipping process.

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Automated Manufacturing / Assembly Environment

In a manufacturing environment products may be produced in batches (the same item is produced for a certain production run), or by a purchase order, down to a single unit at a time. Products may be large, oddly-shaped, or heavy. This process illustrates a Packsize machine accommodating either production environment. Depending on the variation of products produced, packaging needs, takt time required, and other variables, On Demand Packaging solutions can be customized to improve throughput and reduce costs.

For customers seeking higher automation for large, odd-shaped, and/or heavy products

• Integrates seamlessly into your existing assembly line
• Deliver the perfect fitting box to your packstation
• Automation helps to reduce labor and improve consistency in your packaging process

Forward-thinking furniture manufacturer Legacy Cabinets sought to reduce empty space and improve protection when shipping its cabinetry. However, the initial attempt at right-sizing required a substantially large box inventory. This required significant time, costs, and management of 500 box SKUs. Legacy Cabinet&#;s inventory now consists of only five different sizes of z-Fold®.

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Multi-Machine Manufacturing Flow

This packaging solution features less automation and integration than the other manufacturing environment references. Products are transported to Packsize machines for custom box production then packed and shipped by an employee. This process can be integrated with packaging software to scan a product for dimensional data as it is unpackaged and placed on warehouse racking.

Can be customized for any workflow

• Product dimensions are entered into the machine either with a barcode scan, manual scan, or your WMS
• z-Fold® will be fed into the machine and cut into a right-sized box
• Equipped for various box sizes and designs
• PackNet coordinates all elements of the manufacturing flow

For more than 20 years, Central Carolina Products relied on a traditional store-and-retrieve box inventory system to ship custom auto parts and other injection-molded products. Waiting for box vendor quotes and orders added several days to its lead time. After incorporating an On Demand Packaging solution, they can now create 100 custom boxes for 100 different parts at no extra cost and with no additional lead time.

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Custom Batch Production

In batch production, an automated packaging machine creates batches of boxes, eliminating the need for a box inventory. In the illustration below, it is assumed that the production run is generated by an integrated software system, which means that this is higher on the integration scale, even though the packaging process flow is lower on the automation scale.

Eliminate the dependency on box vendors for stock boxes and custom orders

• Quickly produce the exact number of boxes you need in the right size and design
• Optimized to produce any custom box for your operations&#;either in batch or single-piece flow productions

Packaging is typically the final part of any manufacturing or order fulfillment process, and often, the last to be optimized. The process solutions above emphasize the role a packaging line plays in achieving business objectives, increased throughput, reduced labor, and cost savings. Just as no two warehouse environments are alike, automation is not a one-size-fits-all remedy, but rather a customizable and flexible solution designed to streamline warehouse operations, increase sustainability, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction.

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