The emergence of new packaging machinery design and features are taking packaging to new heights, thanks to smart technology. Many of the advancements we’re seeing are geared towards making the space needed for packaging more condense. E-commerce and the competitiveness of same-day delivery demand logistics centers that are closer to consumers and are often in limited spaces. We’re also seeing the machinery that outputs product packaging in record numbers. This need for speed parallels the shift in consumer behavior for products to be available to them as quickly as possible. Packaging machinery needs to operate quickly, but it also needs to produce fewer errors and serve products that reach an optimal level of safety, quality, and promote sustainable packaging.
Here are some of the most exciting packaging trends and upgrades to product packaging machinery:
Vertical Bagging to Fit a Diverse Range of Packaging Design
Historically bagging machinery fit one shape of the bag, but that’s changing. As marketers seek to differentiate themselves through unique packaging, packaging machinery is evolving to adapt to the changing the landscape.
Sustainable Packaging Machinery Improves Efficiency and Environmental Impact
The Halopack tray “incorporates high barrier properties that maintain product quality and, with the right conditions, can extend shelf-life.” It’s able to handle and seal “extremely lightweight plastic trays, enabling businesses to achieve the benefits of food protection and reduced food waste, while reducing the amount of plastic by up to 42 percent.”
AI Pill Checking and Packaging Solutions
New machinery can now completely inspect medications and vitamins. This new technology can reportedly fill 300 bottles per minute and is made to integrate seamlessly with multiple slat-fillers.
Leak Detecting Machinery
Companies are hopeful about the promise that they will ultimately waste less product using this upgraded machinery. Systems now use a method that can detect small leaks quicker and more efficiently.
Robot Packers
Multiple companies have released new robotic packer solutions that are designed to improve the packaging process at all levels. These new robots reduce the floor space needed in warehouses and industrial spaces, which creates new opportunities for companies seeking out logistics facilities in dense urban cores.
Advancements in Sealing Heat Sensitive Products
The Flowpacker by Schubert has elevated its sealing technology to work better with products that are sensitive to the heat created by flowpack machinery.
Advancements to Improve Food Safety Using Machinery
A major area of concern is in the packaging and processing of animal byproducts. New technologies utilize x-ray machinery that can detect items like stone, plastic, calcified bone and foreign bodies in packaged meat and dairy, in a way the naked eye just can’t detect.
Improved Medical Product Packaging Sealing Safety
New technology “has a heat plate that automatically lowers after the tray is engaged fully into the machine for sealing.” “An upgraded safety hitch pin locking mechanism, which provides safer, easier operator loading and unloading of tooling.”
Decreasing Product Waste with Smart Fill Features
New rotary pouch fillers are able to fill packages more efficiently than ever. Recent designs are able to detect faulty packages and will withhold from filling if the package cannot hold the product.
Smart Printing Improves Package Labeling
New packaging technology is now able to inspect the quality of label printing better than ever before. “Full flexibility allows users to define what is a ‘good read’, ‘bad read’, and “no read” on a per-product basis.”
We expect to see advancements in packaging machinery to continue to cut out the possibility of human error through the use of artificial intelligence and other smart designs. Humans will always play a role in the packaging process (at least in our lifetime). We partner with our clients to create cutting-edge packaging that reflects the quality of their business.
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