In the food industry, it is important to consider that sterilization isn’t a “one size fits all” type of formula. Certain product-sensitive foods, such as baby food, require the utmost sterilization.
Here is what you need to know: the global packaging market is sustaining growth. According to Smithers Pira, the 2015 global packaging market was valued at about $400 billion. Growth underlines a shift in balance toward emerging markets, such as BRIC. North America showed a moderate increase from the prior year and is valued at $108 billion. Food packaging is the largest segment, accounting for 51 percent of the total market value. Beverage packaging accounts for 18 percent, followed by 6 percent for pharmaceutical.
Pucks are common in the cosmetics industries, particularly fragrances, where they are needed to hold odd shaped bottles. Highly finished bottles are sometimes run in pucks to keep them from getting scuffed by guide rails or other bottles on the line. Pucks with metal inserts are be used with a magnetic conveyor to carry aerosol cans through a water bath to check for propellant leaks.
For craft beer and other beverage manufacturers, business is booming. So it’s no wonder that these new and growing companies are seeking packaging and labeling solutions that help them compete effectively in the market.
By asking the right questions, companies can design robotic systems that maximize end-of-line efficiency and ROI.
Conventional automatic palletizers have been available since the 1950’s. In the 1990’s, gantry and then jointed arm robots made significant inroads in palletizing, leading many to conclude that the conventional palletizer’s days were numbered. Rather than getting immersed in ambiguous statistics and marketing buzzwords like “flexible” or “fixed automation,” this paper will look at the specific applications that favor each technology to determine if the future of palletizing is exclusively robotic.
What we know from experience is that business changes. Not only does the nature of packaging loads tend to change, but that labor costs, staffing, throughput, and a slew of other things change as well. Because of this, it's worth looking at options for upgrades and flexibility throughout the life of a machine before you buy one.
Feed the machine or let the machine feed us? If we're talking the food industry’s robots, it's likely to be the latter. Robots are becoming so common today, from vacuum cleaners to automated yogurt kiosks and beyond, that we hardly notice them anymore.
The good news is that business is great and you need a new packaging line. The bad news is that you have to shoehorn it into existing space and there isn't any. What do you do now?
PMMI’s 2014 report on secondary packaging delivers up-to-date awareness on the trends that continue to drive change, how consumer package goods (CPG) companies are lowering overall packaging costs and what machine builders can expect in future end-of-line equipment needs.
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