Packaging Automation Study: A Focus on Packagers
-- Control Engineering, 4/1/2008
Packaging professionals play a unique role in today’s production ecosystem. In addition to wrestling with “traditional” issues of reducing costs and optimizing production, packagers must also contend with rapid-fire changes brought on by the ebb-and-flow of consumer tastes. The following is an overview of the survey audience, the challenges and opportunities they face, and future growth of automation within packaging environments. Digital edition of supplement and research study are available.
| How many packaging lines does your company typically run in your location? | |
| • More than seven | 31% |
| • 3 - 4 | 21% |
| • 5 - 7 | 19% |
| • 1 | 15% |
| • 2 | 14% |
| How often does your company change packages on a line? | |
| • Multiple times per day | 38% |
| • 1 – 2 times per week | 22% |
| • Once per day | 18% |
| • Rarely/single-line | 15% |
| • 1 – 2 times per month | 5% |
| • 1 – 2 times per year | 2% |
| What is the primary reason for line changeover? | |
| • Different/new SKU | 61% |
| • Package size change | 31% |
| • Other | 5% |
| • Accommodate prior shift shortfalls | 3% |
| Are you using industrial Ethernet for connectivity and communication: | |
| • Yes | 49% |
| • No | 35% |
| • Don’t know | 16% |
| What format of Ethernet are you using? | |
| • Ethernet/IP | 77% |
| • ProfiNet | 6% |
| • PowerLink | 4% |
| • SERCOS III | 3% |
| • Other | 3% |
| • Modbus TCP | 2% |
| • EtherCAT | 2% |
| Top 5 job functions of respondents: | |
| • Engineering or production | 40% |
| • Corporate/general management | 19% |
| • Operations management | 15% |
| • Research & development | 8% |
| • Other | 7% |
| Top 5 product types packaged by respondents*: | |
| • Food & beverage | 42% |
| • Pharmaceuticals | 17% |
| • Personal care/cosmetics | 14% |
| • Household chemicals/products | 12% |
| • Machinery/Electronic equipment | 10% |
| * Respondents were asked to check all that apply | |
| Years of industry experience: | |
| • 20+ years | 41% |
| • 11 – 20 years | 29% |
| • 6 – 10 years | 15% |
| • 3 – 5 years | 10% |
| • 1 – 2 years | 5% |
| Employee size: | |
| • 1,000 or more | 39% |
| • 250 – 499 | 15% |
| • 100 – 249 | 14% |
| • 20 – 99 | 13% |
| • 500 – 999 | 9% |
| • Under 20 | 9% |
| Annual spend – packaging automation equipment: | |
| • $500,000 or more | 28% |
| • $100,000 – $499,999 | 20% |
| • Don’t know | 17% |
| • $10,000 – $49,999 | 14% |
| • $50,000 – $99,999 | 12% |
| • $5,000 - $9,999 | 4% |
| • Less than $5,000 | 5% |
| Top 5 reasons to automate*: | |
| • Control labor costs | 81% |
| • Gain production efficiencies | 74% |
| • Gain competitive edge | 48% |
| • Increased reliability | 47% |
| • Flexibility | 45% |
| * Respondents were asked to check all that apply | |
| Does any of your packaging equipment have automation options not currently in use? | |
| • Yes | 49% |
| • No | 51% |
| How much value do you place on single-vendor availability? | |
| • Moderate value | 55% |
| • Great value | 30% |
| • Little value | 12% |
| • No value | 3% |
| Does your company currently use preferred vendor lists? | |
| • Yes | 75% |
| • No | 25% |
| How often are these lists evaluated? | |
| • Annually | 47% |
| • By project | 29% |
| • Every 6 months | 10% |
| • Every 2 years | 6% |
| • Every 3 years or more | 5% |
| • Every 18 months | 3% |
| Does your workforce hinder you from making purchasing investments? | |
| • Yes | 10% |
| • Sometimes | 49% |
| • No | 41% |
| Top 5 reasons your workforce hinders new technology purchases: | |
| • Operators lack technical/learning skills | 68% |
| • Maintenance/support staff lack skills | 44% |
| • Difficulty attracting skilled workers | 42% |
| • Too focused on “hitting the numbers” | 38% |
| • Management reluctant to invest | 35% |
| For more information and analysis on the market challenges, please turn to page 5. | |
| How would you respond to the following statement: Packaging machine flexibility provides key competitive advantages | |
| • Completely agree | 51% |
| • Somewhat agree | 43% |
| • Somewhat disagree | 4% |
| • Completely disagree | 2% |
| Five years from now, how will your number of automation suppliers change? | |
| • Increase | 42% |
| • Remain the same | 47% |
| • Decrease | 11% |
| Top 5 automation and control features to become important in next 5 years*: | |
| • Ease of changeover | 62% |
| • Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) | 51% |
| • Human interface features | 41% |
| • Data acquisition | 46% |
| • Interchangeable/modular design | 38% |
| * Respondents were asked to check all that apply | |
| Top 5 most desired product features*: | |
| • Ability to access production data | 48% |
| • Recipe-driven/tool-less changeover | 44% |
| • Ability to access diagnostic data | 42% |
| • Connectivity via industry-standard network | 40% |
| • Consistent software structures (regardless of OEM) | 32% |
| * Respondents were asked to check all that apply | |
| Top 5 most important product attributes*: | |
| • Reliability | 70% |
| • Quality/durability | 62% |
| • Price | 60% |
| • Easy to use/install/maintain | 56% |
| • Price-to-performance | 51% |
| * Respondents were asked to check all that apply | |
| For more information and analysis on trends and opportunities, please turn to page 7. Read other articles in the Packaging Automation Benchmark Study, Part 1: |
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