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6 packaging automation trends to watch in 2010

As 2009 recedes (thankfully) in our rear view mirrors, here are 6 packaging automation trends to monitor in the year ahead.

Pw 4055 John Kowal

1. Operator panels will simplify
OJT training, maintenance The power of PC-based HMI will allow step-by-step video and animated instructions to operators and first-echelon maintenance providers. Using portable HMI panels on long cables—similar to robotic teach pendants—operators can walk around the machine while following multimedia, step-by-step instructions to clear jams, load blanks, perform lubrication, and handle other tasks. HMI cost is always coming down, with Atom processors now appearing on low-cost HMI and HMI merging with controllers. Now, low-end machines can enjoy the same kind of sophisticated software capabilities as high-end machinery.

2. We’ll get over the high cost of developing onboard multimedia
The hardware is cheap. The expensive part will be developing individual videos and animations. But inevitably, the first OEMs to take the leap will win some high-profile projects from those who don’t, and in short order onboard multimedia will become an expectation. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video is literally a thousand pictures. It will prevail.

Tapping into universities, as industry does so effectively in Europe, will reduce the cost for OEMs while simultaneously developing the next generation of knowledge workers. A perfect example is Purdue University Calumet, where a new packaging resource center and an established computer graphics department are just waiting for a groundbreaking machine animation project.

3. The latest consumer technology will invade packaging
Already, corporate IT managers are learning that it’s counterproductive to block YouTube from engineers searching video on the latest technologies. Webcams are helping OEMs troubleshoot problems from half a world away. We’re about to see another wave of bandwidth hit the Internet to make these activities more practical and economical. It’s no different than the revolution that brought us the Web, multimedia, and email in the 90’s. Rapidly expanding infrastructure and access mean faster everything about doing business—like inventory turns, time to market, and problem resolution.

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