After three decades of designing, building, and commissioning automated packaging lines across the Pharma, Food, and Cosmetics industries, one lesson stands out: automation succeeds only when applied with purpose and precision. Too often, businesses chase speed, capacity, or buzzwords — and end up magnifying inefficiency instead of eliminating it.
This article distils 30 years of real-world experience into three critical mistakes that derail automation ROI before a machine even starts. If you’re planning or upgrading your end-of-line packaging, these insights can help you design smarter, scale sustainably, and build systems that actually serve your business goals.
It’s tempting to spec a machine with double the capacity you need, just in case your product takes off tomorrow. This is known as "future-proofing," but often, it's just budget overkill. The Mistake: Purchasing a machine rated for 300 pieces per minute (PPM) when your primary packaging line can only manage 150 PPM.
The Reality: The faster machine is significantly more expensive, requires more complex components (e.g., continuous motion over intermittent), and demands a higher level of maintenance. You pay a premium for capacity you may never use.
Our Advice: Automate for today's peak demand plus a 25% safety margin. Instead of buying a static, oversized machine, invest in a modular design. A modular system allows you to easily upgrade your speed or add another cartoning head later, making the capital investment scalable and aligning it directly with your growth.