7 Pay attention to pacing. If bottlenecks develop on a partially automated line, it could be because
the pace at which operators are working is not well
matched to the flow and speed of the equipment, says
Andy Smith, president of Consumer and Industrial
Logistics for Genco, a third-party logistics company
that has a packaging division. “For example, you
could have eight people working on a line, but if
one has a four-minute task and
another has a two-minute task,
that’s where the bottleneck will
be,” he says. He suggests observing the operators to validate
the time required for each task
and then balancing the work
to maintain the necessary pace
and ensure a consistent work
flow. Lean techniques such as those used to manage
manufacturing production lines can help here.
8 “Shake hands” the right way. If the integration of equipment, software, and control systems is not
done properly, an order’s progress through the packaging line will be a bumpy one indeed. “You have to
make sure the software is programmed correctly, that
it works in conjunction with every piece of equipment,
and that each piece of equipment works properly with
the others,” says Louis Suffern, e-commerce solutions
manager with Sealed Air’s Product Care division. At
every juncture, he explains, there will be an electronic
“handshake” that signals the next piece of equipment
to take over. If takeaway speeds or the timing of the
electronic handshake aren’t correct, a machine could
detect a fault and suspend operations. That’s why
thorough testing—not just of each piece of equipment
but also of the software—is critical, he says.
9 Plan for exceptions. In an automated packaging system, errors like incomplete orders, out-of-reg-
ister printing, and unreadable bar codes are unusual,
but they can and do happen. If you don’t design in
a process for handling errors and rejects, the line
will end up slowing or stopping every time there’s
an exception, no matter how small, says Suffern.
Basically, he says, you want a way to resolve problems
and get a package back on the automated line with
the least amount of disruption and the fewest touch-
es. One option that has proved effective on many
packaging lines is to automatically divert exceptions
down a conveyor to a workstation specifically set up
to resolve errors, and then to reinduct the corrected
package at the appropriate station on the line. Suffern
has also seen systems that scan packing lists to identify
missing items and then convey them to the packing
station; that way, workers don’t have to leave their
posts to complete the orders.
10 Design for tomorrow, not just for today. If your packaging line has no flexibility built into
it, you’re likely to encounter slowdowns when any
change comes along, says Genco’s Smith. Equipment
that can accommodate changes in box size, graphics,
labeling, and other attributes will keep things moving without lengthy shutdowns. “You want to have
limited changeovers with the least amount of time to
switch over for your product mix,” he advises.
To get an idea of what may be coming down the
road, Smith says, make sure you’re informed about
upcoming changes your company may be planning,
such as new products in development, special promotions, and issues like theft prevention and entry into
new markets that could prompt changes in packaging.
“It’s a mistake to design for what’s happening now
and not for where you need to be tomorrow,” he says.
THINK HOLISTICALLY
One last, important piece of advice is not so much
about avoiding a pitfall as it is about changing the
way you think about automation. Moris of Invata
Intralogistics suggests treating a packaging line as a
single, integrated entity, rather than as a collection of
individual pieces of equipment. “[Automated packaging lines] are not just the sum of their individual components,” he says. “They become an entire machine
in themselves.” By keeping that in mind, DCs can
better maintain their packaging lines’ productivity
and reliability. c
TOBY GOOLEY IS A SENIOR EDITOR AT DC VELOCITY.
