Thank you for Subscribing to Retail Business Review Weekly Brief
Retail Business Review | Friday, December 01, 2023
Packaging technology ensures enhanced customer experience, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty.
FREMONT, CA: The need to increase throughput while reducing operating costs and environmental impact is driving packaging lines to accommodate an unprecedented variety and complexity of products. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can optimize resource use, increase machine availability, and reduce energy consumption and waste using automation. Packaging is becoming more sustainable, efficient, and productive as solutions become more widespread.
Hybrid automation systems for optimizing lines: Automation systems traditionally used pneumatic or electric linear motion control and only provided the benefits of those technologies. With hybrid automation systems, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can now build packaging machines that combine both technologies, offering the greatest advantages of both.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
Hybrid systems are becoming more conventional as they combine the advantages of pneumatic and electric actuators. This allows OEMs to use the best technology for each specific function, leading to increased sustainability, efficiency, and productivity in the packaging line. The latest electric actuators are highly energy-efficient and offer unmatched repeatability and uniformity, which can improve equipment efficiency and reduce scrap. On the other hand, pneumatic actuators are known for their robust operation and easy maintenance. In addition, the overall system flexibility enables the machines to produce a wide range of products while significantly reducing changeover times.
Using smart sensors and analytics software to gain visibility: CPG manufacturers strive to optimize resource use and streamline operations in order to improve sustainability, efficiency, and productivity. For example, compressed air lines and clean-in-place (CIP) systems need better visibility and analytics.
Typical food and beverage processing facilities devote about 30 percent of their utility resources to CIP operations and lose time during changeovers. Without sensors and analytics software, CIP skids can run for unnecessarily long preset cycles, wasting resources and requiring manual reporting, which is time-consuming and error-prone. By automating the monitoring and reporting of CIP and steam-in-place (SIP) utilities, operators can optimize resource use, benchmark against known cycles, and generate reports automatically. By using data, stakeholders can reduce energy consumption and improve facility productivity.
In most packaging facilities, pneumatic systems require compressed air, which can consume a considerable amount of energy. Unfortunately, some air may be lost due to undetected leaks, resulting in wasted energy and unnecessary expenses. Smart airflow sensors detect leaks in pneumatic systems and are now available in high-flow models that reduce energy consumption in larger air lines and systems. As a result of this expanded capacity, personnel can now clearly see compressed air usage, identify and address leaks quickly, and optimize energy efficiency across a facility's entire operations.
More in News