Packaging is a core process in logistics. However, loads of packaging processes are inefficient. They aren’t effectively suited to the altering wants of the trendy logistics business.

Collaborative robots are a strong resolution for streamlining your packaging duties. They supply a versatile strategy to clear up frequent issues in logistics packaging.

The wants of the logistics business are always altering.

At the moment, there may be demand throughout the business for logistics corporations to rethink packaging. Corporations want to enhance sustainability by optimizing packaging use, introducing extra eco-friendly packaging supplies, and implementing extra reuse.

On prime of those new sustainability wants, numerous world occasions have put further strain on the logistics business. Challenges embrace disruptions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, labor shortages, and the e-commerce increase.

Cobots are a worthwhile instrument to beat these challenges and calls for.

Frequent packaging issues in logistics

You may surprise if your organization is able to add robotics to its operations.

When an business undergoes as many adjustments because the logistics business has lately, some corporations assume that they only have to put their head down and maintain working as normal. They determine that they may innovate “once they have extra time.”

However, some frequent packaging issues in logistics will not go away with out some innovation.

Such issues embrace…

Excessive wastage in packaging processes

The demand for extra sustainable packaging is just more likely to enhance within the coming years.

Even following the Covid-19 pandemic (when sustainability took a backseat to sterility), 54% of shoppers nonetheless think about packaging sustainability when deciding on a product.

Typical approaches to packaging in logistics are sometimes fairly wasteful. This makes packaging a superb avenue for corporations to enhance sustainability.

The productiveness hole

In accordance with research, the logistics business has extra sick days than common. In consequence, productiveness usually suffers in logistics.

There may very well be numerous causes for this productiveness hole. If musculoskeletal problems are a reason behind the issue, robots have beforehand been discovered to assist cut back the 35% of sick days misplaced to damage.

Labor shortages

The rise of e-commerce is usually nice for the logistics business. Nevertheless, for a lot of corporations, it has introduced into sharp focus the present labor shortages throughout many elements of the business.

As this downside is multi-factored, there isn’t a one resolution for bettering this expertise hole for everybody. Nevertheless, robotic packaging is a method that particular person logistics corporations can mitigate among the results of the issue.

The position of robotic packaging in logistics

Automation is nothing new within the logistics business.

Nevertheless, while you consider logistics automation, you may suppose primarily of the machines to transferring containers and pallets round. You won’t consider automated packaging.

Packaging is usually considered being primarily a human job.

It is historically been sophisticated to carry out packaging duties with automation due to the excessive diploma of variability between packaging duties. Typical packaging automation is massive and rigid. It is best suited to extremely common duties with low variability.

Collaborative robots change all that.

With the correct cobot utility package, you’ll be able to obtain very versatile automated packaging remarkably simply.

These two cobot functions are most suited to packaging:

1. Choose and place — That is usually utilized in main and secondary packaging duties (e.g. placing product into containers). The robotic picks up the product and places it right into a container.
2. Palletizing — That is the place the robotic stacks and arranges already boxed merchandise onto a pallet.

5 helpful advantages of robotic packaging in logistics

What can including a packaging robotic do to enhance your logistics operations?

Listed here are 5 helpful advantages of packaging in logistics with robots:

1. Extra consistency

The consistency you’ll be able to obtain with a packaging robotic cannot be surpassed by human staff.

By nature, we people are finest at duties that require creativity and problem-solving. We aren’t nice at reaching excessive consistency. Packaging is a uninteresting, repetitive process so inconsistencies can creep into an individual’s work over a protracted shift. A robotic will all the time carry out the duty in the identical approach each time.

2. Value reductions

Robots are additionally a extra environment friendly strategy to carry out many packaging duties. After the robotic has achieved a return on funding, the labor value of the packaging process drops to virtually zero.

In consequence, utilizing a packaging robotic lets you spend extra of your packaging price range on different options, resembling bettering packaging sustainability.

3. 24/7 operation

One space the place robots all the time outperform people is of their capability to work repeatedly. If you’d like, you’ll be able to run a robotic 24 hours a day for 7 days per week.

Because the demand for logistics continues to rise, this functionality may turn out to be a key differentiator between your service and that of your rivals.

4. Higher use of floorspace

Collaborative robots are typically smaller than different robots. They’re considerably smaller than different types of packaging automation.

By selecting a collaborative robotic resolution on your packaging, you may make extra economical use of your flooring house, which helps make your operation extra sustainable general.

5. Robustness to fluctuations

As we have seen lately, it solely takes one or two main market occasions for demand to fluctuate dramatically. Whether or not you’re experiencing larger demand than normal, or decrease, you want to have the ability to reply shortly and effectively.

An ideal advantage of utilizing cobot packaging options is that they’re so versatile. You may shortly and simply reprogram the robotic to reply to altering demand.

The way to streamline with robotic packaging options

Are you seeking to enhance your packaging processes with robotic automation?

Probably the most environment friendly strategy to get began is by utilizing a collaborative robotic utility package. This consists of all the elements that it is advisable to deploy the cobot to your chosen packaging process.

You will discover out about our obtainable utility kits on our product web page.

Which challenges is your logistics firm experiencing proper now? Inform us within the feedback beneath or be part of the dialogue on LinkedIn, Twitter, Fb, or the DoF skilled robotics neighborhood.