Industry 4.0: Balancing cost, labor challenges and efficiency in the shift toward automation

12 Jul 2023 --- Since the rapid expansion of automated machinery during COVID-19 lockdowns, adaptation and acceleration of the market have continued to grow. Packaging businesses have increasingly looked to technologies like AI, robotic systems and advanced machinery to streamline work processes and protect themselves against labor shortages. 

While automation significantly benefits the industry, it presents numerous challenges, particularly with investment costs and skilled labor requirements. We speak to industry leaders at Berhalter, Syntegon and Cama Group to discuss the latest developments and challenges automation brings to the packaging industry. 

“Automation offers several advantages to the packaging industry. It improves production speed and accuracy, reduces human errors and enhances overall product quality,” says Tino Thür, digital marketing manager and sales support for Berhalter. 

“Additionally, automation enables cost savings by optimizing resource utilization, minimizing waste and maximizing throughput. It also enhances workplace safety by replacing hazardous manual tasks with automated systems.” 

Moreover, automation supports high production rates, which was particularly important for health reasons during the pandemic.

“Automation not only makes the plants work safely even with the pandemic but also offers an excellent return on investment,” Christian Sala, Cama’s global executive sales manager, tells Packaging Insights.

“In some areas where the cost of manual labor was more advantageous than a modern plant, other parameters related to safety in the workplace, social distancing and its continuity have taken over, which have made automatic systems more profitable than manual ones.”

Sytegon’s robots detect various products on the production belt.Challenges ahead 
While automation brings numerous benefits, there are some key challenges to consider

“Initial investment costs for automation equipment can be high, and companies need to carefully evaluate the return on investment. Integration of automation systems with existing processes and infrastructure may require significant adjustments and skilled expertise,” says Thür at Berhalter. 

“Workforce training and upskilling are crucial to ensure employees can effectively operate and maintain automated systems.”

On the other hand, automation can impact the labor market and employment rates in different ways. Job losses, for example, could be incurred by machine automation. 

However, Thür says that while certain repetitive and labor-intensive tasks may be automated, it also creates new job opportunities. 

“Companies can redirect the workforce to more skilled roles that involve operating, maintaining, and programming automated systems. Additionally, increased productivity and competitiveness resulting from automation can lead to business growth, potentially creating new employment opportunities,” he explains.

New opportunities, safety and demand 
Meanwhile, Andreas Schildknecht, product manager at Syntegon, asserts that automation does not pose a threat to employment rates and opens up a new labor market.

“Finding qualified workers is proving to be quite the challenge in the food industry, where fluctuation rates are very high. By implementing robotic solutions, manufacturers can optimize the division of tasks between machine and personnel,” he says. 

“No matter how much the level of automation will rise, this interplay will continue to be the key factor for success. Once robots have been integrated into the processing or packaging line, they work quickly, reliably and without interruptions at high speeds – relieving employees of tiring tasks.”Cama’s AR-based tech for error detection.

“As a result, operators can take on more complex processes and tasks such as format changes, cleaning and supervision of the line.”

He explains that automation has been on the top of the food industry’s agenda for years precisely because skilled personnel have been increasingly difficult to find.

“For many manufacturers, relying on robots has been the solution to maintain or even increase their production efficiency. Pick-and-place robots can take over monotonous tasks, such as feeding, handling or loading of products and perform them at high speeds while ensuring utmost product safety.”

Furthermore, Sala at Cama explains that new dynamics of consumer demand require redesigning new packaging systems to deliver higher safety and greater food protection during production. 

“The flexibility of the Cama machines is a plus that allows you to manage and respond to all the possible needs of GDO and e-commerce customers,” he says.

F&B hygiene boosts 
According to Schildknecht at Syntegon, the COVID-19 pandemic has also taught the packaging industry to value their ability for hygienic product handling. 

“Pick-and-place robots reduce the risk of contamination by minimizing the number of contacts between production staff and products. Naturally, this risk is particularly high when easily perishable food items such as cupcakes are not yet wrapped in their protective primary packaging,” he explains. 

“Integrated into the packaging process, for example, robots in Syntegon’s Robotic Pick-and-Place platform carefully lift the fragile products off the conveyor belt and place them into trays. All this happens with only one point of contact between the product and the machine, like an easy-to-clean gripper.”

But packaging machinery needs to cater to different customer requirements such as new sizes, formats and materials.

Berhalter’s Swiss-Die-Cutter for lids, labels, seals and special products.“Syntegon is constantly developing new end-of-arm (EoA) tools to handle an even larger variety of formats and products. Additionally, we are working on integrating new technologies into our solutions to make them even more efficient. The more powerful microchips and computers become, the more features we can integrate into our vision control systems, such as 3D-recognition of the products as well as AI-based solutions for quality control,” adds Schildknecht.

Efficiency for volatility 
Syntegon asserts that the higher the degree of automation, the more efficient and flexible production becomes, which it says is a particularly vital advantage in the volatile food industry.

“Pick-and-place robots are specifically designed to handle different products with ease and switch between them swiftly. All that is needed to perform a product change is to change the EoA tool,” says Schildknecht. 

“When assembling assortments or variety packs, pick-and-place robots also keep up with efficiency requirements, as Syntegon’s Sigpack TTMD top load cartoner demonstrates. There they can pack products in flat or upright positions or both, creating more pack style variety at the point of sale.”

Upping the degree of automation often presents a challenging process for manufacturers, as Schildknecht explains they have to balance their investment costs against their day-to-day expenses carefully. 

Often, the solution is to automate gradually and automate one process step after another. 

“To keep the production running during this process, manufacturers have to choose equipment with a compact footprint and flexible layout to fit the dimensions of their existing production halls,” Schildknecht continues.

“Automated machines can run far more products than upstream or downstream equipment. It is therefore crucial to find a machine that can handle a variety of product formats and sizes to ensure that it runs at full capacity as much as possible – only then can manufacturers fully benefit from the equipment’s cost-saving potential.”

“The higher the degree of automation, the higher the production’s technical complexity. It is our job as equipment manufacturers to ensure that this growing complexity has as little an impact on our customer’s daily business as possible.”

Market trends
Market trends are the guide on the journey toward greater automation in the packaging industry, explains Sala at Cama.

“We have to adapt and deliver the solutions that customers demand. For example, when plants are required to produce smaller and smaller formats that need greater speed or larger formats for higher consumption,” he explains.

“Apparently, they seem to be two opposite requests, but both are closely linked to the necessary flexibility of the systems with rapid format change.”

“Today the direction that the market has taken is very clear and the future of packaging will be increasingly based on automation, flexibility and sustainability.”

By Louis Gore-Langton