Robots are steadily penetrating the packaging plant floor and will continue to do so in the future. That was the conclusion of the 2014 Trends in Robotics Market Assessment from PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. According to the report, the use of robotics in primary packaging operations will more than double to 20% in 2018, up from 8% in 2013. The next largest increase for the technology’s use, it said, is in secondary packaging, where, on average, robots will work on 20% of secondary packaging lines in 2018, up from 10% in 2013. It added that robots performing palletizing tasks will account for 31% of the robots in use across manufacturers in 2018 on average, up from 21% in 2013.
In the following article, Part 2 of Packaging World’s Special Report on Robotics & Automation, three packagers demonstrate how they have implemented robotics in their plants in the areas of secondary packaging and palletizing to eliminate manual processes, improve worker safety, reduce costs, increase packaging line speeds, and improve package quality. See Part 1 of the report in our August 2015 issue at pwgo.to/1743.
