When you first set up shop you had very few customers. However, now after a few years of hard work developing an excellent marketing campaign, you find that you’re having trouble keeping up with supply and demand because of your packaging setup. The good news is that you have the potential for increased growth. Now all you need to do is find ways to improve your assembly line functions. 

New Challenges 

If your employees have difficulty keeping up with the orders, you may end up losing your established payday connections that stock your products for sale to consumers. Or, at the very least, you may experience a higher than usual worker turnover due to the daily pressure to meet deadlines. Either one can put a damper on your business profits prohibiting you from reaching your earning potential. 

Produce More Than One Product 

If your business produces many different products, your packaging needs will vary. Often this can lead to lag time caused by the need to change over the manual machines in the middle of the day. There are two things going on here, both of which will cost you dearly in reduced profits. First, if employees are standing around while this is going on, you’re paying for nothing. Secondly, having to stop at any point in the day is a loss in your wallet. With automation, you can Plan ahead or create two different lines with a variety in the size of the packages to accommodate the products you need for every day of the week. For instance, at Overbeck Machines, many of the parts they ship are different sizes. Using automation you won’t worry about what size your products are. 

Investing in Automation 

Thankfully, there are ways to improve the turnaround time without losing sales or your employees. Automation is not new to the industry. However, as technology continues to evolve, better and smarter ways to reach your goals are available. High-quality machinery operated through automation relieves the pressure off your employees and lets them put their efforts into monitoring the equipment and tracking orders instead of actually packaging them. 

Is it Cost-Effective? 

If you are unable to keep up, you can opt to have two shifts instead of one to increase production. However, adding a second shift also means the shop is open longer, and you will have more people on the payroll. A better option is bringing your business to the next level and removing the manual equipment and replacing it with automation machines. It will also free up employees currently working in packaging and allow you to utilize them in the production end of your business. 

Human Element 

Manual labor increases the potential for sustaining an injury due to machinery and hands, putting you at a much greater risk of liability. Also, if you take the human element out of the equation, suddenly there’s no downtime, or reduction in production caused by worker fatigue, sickness or error. 

Waste 

Automation lets you create precise measurements for your product, making every package look exactly the same. This can help to drastically cut back on the waste, saving you money and reducing your carbon footprint. 

Staying One Step Ahead of Your Competition 

Automation is the way of the future for any business that wants to improve their production without having to add substantial costs. For instance, you can utilize robotic automation on the conveyor belt to select and place items correctly, remove delicate items, and stack items for shipments. Robotic arms are also beneficial when you need to change out heavier loads. Additionally, they require minimal maintenance to keep them performing flawlessly. 

If your business is falling behind due to the inability to keep up with the packaging, you may be ready to move it to the next level and replace manual operations with automation.