Robots and the future

At a recent Motoman Technical Forum in the firm’s West Carrollton, OH, offices, Motoman president Craig Jennings was enthusiastic about the potential for robotic applications in the packaging sector.

Aug 31st, 2005

Pw 11172 Ma Motoman

Jennings also shared these thoughts:

• As the number of robots sold annually increases, revenue doesn’t increase proportionately because the cost of robots is coming down.

• Germany has as many robots as all of North America

• Robots are expanding to relatively new markets—pharmaceutical, life sciences, medical instruments, plastics. Helping to cause this expansion is the continuing growth of computer proficiency/familiarity.

• Soon to reach, or in some cases just now reaching, the marketplace are dual-arm robots and 13-axis robots. Also on the horizon are microactuators that permit robots to execute actions requiring increasingly fine motor skills. “Currently they’re too expensive,” Jennings told his audience. “But they’re coming.”

Yaskawa Motoman

Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO, Mercatus

A Year of Reckoning for Grocery E-Commerce

Grocery retailers must continue to increase their e-commerce offerings to meet continuing online demand in 2021. This is no time to ease off.

Thanks to a 100% inline seal inspection process, leak-free packages ensure product quality and leave no unwanted residue on machinery.

Inline Seal Inspection Maintains Quality of Retort Pouches

Investing in a state-of-the-art production facility, the Brazilian pet food manufacturer also opted to move to 100% inline seal inspection for its flexible pouches, eliminating concerns about poorly sealed product getting to the customer.

Functional beverages are a fast-growing segment of the beverage market.

Ready-to-Drink Functional Beverages the Latest Growth Market

Nootropics and pre, pro, and post-biotics are all popular growing beverage offerings, particularly in RTD or premium packaging. These offerings do come with challenges for beverage manufacturers, however.

Box Latch 1 Wire Harnesses

How To Re-use Corrugated Shippers 20 Times

Two Australian manufacturers are trialing an innovative system for the return and reuse of corrugated cases.

More than 100 businesses in the packaging supply chain publicly recognize the need for EPR for packaging in a published statement.

Global Call Launched for Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging

More than 100 businesses in the packaging supply chain publicly recognize the need for EPR for packaging via a live launch and statement, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Check out The Cobot Spot from Universal Robots

Check out The Cobot Spot from Universal Robots

Looking for automation solutions for packaging and palletizing? This is your destination for all things cobot. Whether it’s webinars, video case studies or product information, you’ll find it all in this one spot.

Growing a Successful CBD Brand

Medterra has only been in business for four years, but this brand has been leading CBD sales in U.S. grocery for over 16 months and is expanding rapidly.

EmBeba is using a fiber-based, push-up tube for its debut product, Don't Be Rash Diaper Balm.

Diaper Balm Tube Enables Mess-Free Application, Inspires Children’s Creativity

A fully recyclable push-up paperboard tube not only allows both parent and toddler to easily apply product, but also encourages play and can be reused in clever ways.

Nestlé and Mars Wrigley Roll Out Paper-Based Confectionery Packs Replacing Plastic Predecessors

Take Five Video: Transitioning from plastic to paper for Nestlé’s Smarties brand candies required extensive R&D in new materials, new package designs, equipment compatibility, and recycling potential. Meanwhile Mars Wrigley is piloting its own project.

Kellogg Says Embracing E-Commerce Helped it Weather the Pandemic

Kellogg says its ecommerce investments over the past two years helped it respond quickly and seize opportunities when lockdowns related to COVID-19 sent online grocery sales to record levels.

RRD launched Care Kits for patients and to help healthcare companies adapt to industry changes and demonstrate their commitment to member and patient wellness.

Care Kits Supplement Telehealth for Medicare Patients and More

57% of Americans with chronic conditions delayed healthcare and experienced a gap in care due to COVID-19, per a recent study. Aetna and other companies are shipping kits with specially curated products to offer self-care or supplement telehealth visits.

Unique FlipGuard™ dispensing closure delivers branding and safety

Unique FlipGuard™ dispensing closure delivers branding and safety

Consumers want secure, convenient and smooth dispensing for sauces, dressings and condiments. Berry's new FlipGuard flip-top dispenser's unique design includes a tamper-evident strip and more.

The most important strategy to make packaging more sustainable is to reduce the amount of plastic.

Beverage Manufacturers Respond to Consumer Trends on Plastic Packaging

Plastic has become an issue for consumers, particularly related to plastic waste in the environment. This directly impacts the beverage industry, which is made up of 45% rigid plastic packaging, only 25% of which ends up being recycled in the US.

Octopi installed one of the first Innofill Can C models, designed by KHS for smaller beverage companies, with an integrated filler and seamer.

Co-pack/Co-man Bets on Beverage Market Transformation

Wisconsin-based beverage packer Octopi positions itself to address a rapidly changing beverage market, as well as a shift from bottles to cans, with two canning lines, the newest of which will produce up to 1,200 cans/min in seven sizes.

Amazon Expands Frustration-Free Packaging Programs to Include Smaller Eligible Product Sizes

The Frustration-Free Packaging Programs Incentive Expansion, announced June 1, 2021 for North America and following later this year in Europe, has expanded its product size range downward, to include ASINs starting as small as 6 x 4 x 0.375 ins.

Love Beauty and Planet launched 16-oz reusable aluminum bottles and 32.3-oz 100% rPET refill bottles for two formulas of its shampoo and conditioner at Target in April 2021.

Love Beauty and Planet Debuts Reusable Aluminum Bottle

Unilever hair and skincare brand Love Beauty and Planet is the first major beauty brand to launch a reusable aluminum bottle for shampoo and conditioner for mass market.

The Steeped Coffee Method requires only hot water to prepare a single serving of coffee.

Tea Bag-Style Coffee Pack is ‘Steeped’ in Sustainability

Premium coffee producer Mr. Espresso enters the single-serve market with a tea bag-style product from Steeped that uses plant-based, compostable materials for the bag and outer film sachet.

Dr. R. Andrew Hurley

Taking the Fifth (Panel): Create an Invitation to Engage

Using a fifth-panel carton allows for more space to educate consumers on your product and provides an interactive, sensory experience that can send a powerful message about your brand.

Matt 6:11 Pw Title

Cybersecurity Risks Mount While Bag-in-Box Gives Brewers “Cider Security”

In this two-part Take Five, we first take a look at mounting risks around cybersecurity, then switch gears to look at a rising bag-in-box trend among intentionally flat beers and ciders.

Ball Aluminum Cup™ Expands Rollout to Retailers in 50 States

Ball Aluminum Cup™ Expands Rollout to Retailers in 50 States

After debuting the first-of-its-kind aluminum cup at major sports and entertainment venues, Ball recently expanded availability of the 100% recyclable product nationwide.

More in Home

Wyld Cannabis-Infused Gummies feature a clean botanical look with bright inner carton and child-resistant jar.

2021 Healthcare Packaging Design Gallery

This year’s gallery featured many calming and minimalist aesthetics, signifying a consumer looking for relief at home and work—outside of the clinical setting.

unPACKED with Packaging World Podcast: 10 Billion Reasons to Embrace Reusable Packaging

Listen to the unPACKed with Packaging World podcast as Anne Marie Mohan outlines emerging frameworks to make implementing reusable packaging easier for OEMs, CPGs and consumers.

PepsiCo develops ecommerce-only packages, such as this Doritos 3D variety pack, for some products.

PepsiCo's E-commerce Investments Pay Off in Wake of COVID-19

PepsiCo’s head of global ecommerce shares how its earlier investments in ecommerce helped the CPG giant handle a surge in orders across online channels as consumers shifted to online shopping because of the pandemic.

Getty Images 1129642246

Beverage Suppliers Facing Post-COVID Challenges and Opportunities

Consumer demand is pushing SKU expansion and innovative new product opportunities for beverage manufacturers, but supply chain disruption has also created challenges.

At MWC, Fanuc robots are used to place the packaged 40-lb blocks of cheese onto pallets before they go through a stretch wrapper and are taken to the warehouse.

MWC’s Robot Configurations Provide Flexibility

Robotics come into play in the cheesemaker's palletizing operations. But for the most part, that level of complexity isn't needed in a facility producing such consistent product types and sizes. What's needed more is simplified automation.

There are some common challenges when launching a new food or beverage product.

Accelerating Speed to Market for New Food and Beverage Product Ideas

There are some common challenges when moving a new food or beverage product from idea to reality, and some considerations such as packaging and sustainability that are an integral part of the process.

Branding Lessons from Vital Farms’ Fantastic Egg Carton

Packaging is your product’s greatest salesperson. On today's Take Five video, see how ethical food company Vital Farms uses attention-grabbing graphics, sustainable packaging materials, and clever consumer communication tools to elevate its egg packaging.

Schematic for a iPhone starter kit, as imagined by middle schoolers and presented to a packaging professional from Apple.

Middle Schoolers Take on Big Brand Packaging Projects

Challenged to invent packaging systems for the likes of Apple and Ford, these middle schoolers impressed both in the pack designs themselves, and their ability to communicate their reasoning.

Most beverage sales are coming from Asia Pacific, North America, and Western Europe.

Beverage Trends Driving Change in 2021

Changing consumer demands mean beverage manufacturers have to adjust their offerings to satisfy the desire for functional, healthy beverages, while also offering sustainable or convenience packaging.

The Honey Almond bar hits shelves in a paper-based flow wrap packaged on Syntegon’s HRM horizontal form-fill-seal machine.

Mars Wrigley Develops, Tests Paper-based Packaging for Balisto Chocolate Bar

As brands eye fast-approaching, self-imposed sustainability deadlines, watch for interesting pilot projects to roll out. This European paper-based flow pack from Mars Wrigley's Balisto brand of snacks was developed with Syntegon.

Budweiser’s three new limited-edition cans celebrate American freedom, featuring a red, white, and blue design emblazoned with stars and stripes.

Budweiser Busts out Patriotic Cans for ‘Historic Summer’

Beer giant kicks off the summer season with three limited-edition can designs that celebrate American freedom, with a portion of sales being donated to non-profit Folds of Honor.

The Massman Automation compact cheese block case packer packages 40-lb. blocks in protective cases for safe shipment and handling.

New Case Packer, Robotic Palletizer, Let Wisconsin Cheesemaker Efficiently Offer Multiple Output Options

With a new automated case packer and palletizer, Wisconsin Whey Protein’s cheesemaking operation can now offer its customers bulk cheese in barrels or in blocks.