Beverage packaging equipment investment is expected to rise within the next two to three years, but that does not mean workforce issues will go away. Industry professionals note the challenges of retaining employees and believe equipment manufacturers must improve machine intelligence and usability to combat labor problems.
That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s “Beverage Industry Packaging Trends,” a report done in collaboration with Advantage Research to provide PMMI member companies and the broader industry with insights into beverage packaging trends that will impact the packaging and processing industry. The research stems from a quantitative online survey conducted from Nov. 21, 2024, to Jan. 21, 2025, and fifteen in-depth interviews conducted between Dec. 2024 and Jan. 2025 among CPG companies and contract packagers in the beverage industry.
Research participants cited the difficulty of employee retention and a declining interest in labor. Thus, companies are exploring how equipment can fill talent gaps and enhance efficiency.
“The industry’s got to make the equipment smarter and assume that there’s going to be a new person operating equipment,” said a project manager at a co-manufacturer. “We don’t have long-term employees, so they’ve got to make the equipment smarter. We have to assume that somebody new that doesn’t have much experience is going to be running the equipment every day or could come on because they’re replacing somebody who’s sick or they left. The equipment’s got to be smarter to run on itself and more intuitive to the operator and have built in tutorials.”
Making equipment easier to use may help both employees and managers by reducing the learning and training curve.
“If I can make it easier for our users, (meaning that they don’t need to have a higher skill level), I’ll definitely try to purchase equipment based on that. “Hey, push a button for job number A, B, C” is a lot easier than teaching somebody to go around and learn how they have to move up components of the machine and adjust them,” said a director of engineering at a beverage manufacturer and co-packer.
Increasing beverage packaging equipment capabilities may not fix the root of workforce issues, but it is one way to ease burdens.
SOURCE: PMMI Business Intelligence: Beverage Industry Packaging Trends
For more insights from PMMI’s Business Intelligence team, find reports, including “2024 Snack Foods Packaging Trends” and “2024 Technology & Workforce: Using Smart Technologies to Bridge the Skills Gap” at pmmi.org/business-intelligence.
Download the FREE report below.
