Semi-automation balances speed and flexibility

Automated Packaging Systems primarily serves the manufacturing industry but has seen rapid growth in the retail sector in recent years as eCommerce has boomed.

Sales & marketing manager, Andy Pretious says: “Many warehouses see rafts and rafts of packing benches deployed, with packers surrounded by label printers and mounds of envelopes.

“Our customers were outgrowing space, demands were increasing and they had to find ways of automating that process.”

This poses a challenge, because unlike in production environments, where manufactured products tend to be processed in long, uniform runs, for retail a vast array of SKUs need to be packaged in less predictable sequence as orders are made.

That is why Automated Packaging Systems advise a semi-automated approach, utilising both the higher throughout of the bagging machines, with the flexibility provided by an operator who can switch the bagging machine between relatively short runs of distinct item types.

“The semi-automated principle takes somebody packing around 60 bags an hour to somewhere in the region in 250-300, sometimes pushing 350 bags an hour. So, conservatively, you’re getting a four to fivefold increase, and retailers still have flexibility,” adds Andy.

The pace of growth in online retail is pushing the jump to automation faster than it would otherwise have been. One of the retailers the firm is working with is a major department store.

300+ parcels per hour

“We’re moving them from just over 50 parcels an hour up to the early three hundreds,” says Andy. “Operators are not touching the bag, not applying an address label, and they have two hands free to put the product in the bag.

They are moving from bench-packing to semi-automated bagging. A key advantage of our system is the ability to print on the next bag out. As well as responding to a need now they're investing in capacity for the future.”

There are fully automated systems available – and very good ones – bu the investment costs are higher. Automated Packaging Systems fits in where companies are making a first step towards automation. Andy says some customers get a return on investment within several months, while most achieve it within 18 months.

Managing director Peter Wylie adds: “If a customer has 200 different product types they might need 50 feeding systems to cope in a full automated system. Very costly. 

“Warehouse recruitment is also often difficult, so the more you can get out your existing staff without additional people, it’s great. It's not just the salaries, it's the difficulty in finding good people, and the investment needed to train them.

“We are pleased with the progress with this major department store. We are doing some interesting tweaks with the material to see what runs best in their system. Some customers prefer a more matte finish and others prefer glossy. It’s a question of balancing the look of the package for the consumer and also taking into account factors such as barcode readability.”

Consumables included

Automated Packaging Systems is responsible for the whole package. It makes auto-bags from raw material and prints them in-house. 

Andy says: “We are responsible for the system that goes to the customer. There's no third party conflicts which can be very disruptive.”

Speed of ROI is dependent on other factors also. 

Some customers will have a warehouse management system that can adapt to get the best out of the machines. And others will have a WMS that lacks flexibility, and needs some investment to get it ready.

For example, the Autobag system relies on the label being printed before the bagging process, whereas some WMS are configured to have the label printed at the end of the packing process.

Andy explains: “I think the key is customers challenging themselves to try and direct the right size product to the right area in the process. Often all packages take one route and are sorted by the packers. To get the best out of automated bagging they need to divert items.”

Looking to the future, Automated Packaging Systems predicts consumables will come under tighter scrutiny.

Peter explains: “Some companies are spending upwards of £1 million a year on consumables and there is excess material used. I can see customers increasingly saying, we can save a fortune by getting the packaging to fit the product. At the moment, the priority is usually getting product out the door, but before too long people will look to bring down the cost of doing so.”