Why automated print and apply labeling should be a top priority

Expanding your production capacity is a project filled with potential. Whether adding another line or increasing the speed of an existing line, you’re improving productivity and taking your factory to the next growth stage. And around here, we love growth.

But did you know expanding your production capacity is also the ideal opportunity to automate processes?

Automating even one process on your line is an ideal way to expand capacity and meet future demand without hiring more employees. Considering the current shortage of almost 600,000 stable manufacturing jobs, automating could be a necessity in many cases.

So, where will automation add the most value? And how can you be sure it will offer the best return on investment?

In this post, we’ll explain how automated print and apply labeling often makes good business sense when expanding production (or if you just want to improve efficiency), since it will lead to lower labor requirements and improved scalability.

Eliminate bottlenecks, boost capacity

When you’re increasing volume output or speed across your production line, the last thing you want is for manual labeling to become a bottleneck. The faster a production line, the more difficult it is for employees to keep pace. You either need to slow down your line to accommodate hand labeling or sacrifice the consistency and accuracy of your labels – and both will cost your bottom line.

Automated print and apply labeling is an ideal solution to solve bottlenecks, as Sweden’s leading snack manufacturer found out.

The company’s legacy palletizing and labeling system created a bottleneck on the production line, slowing its ability to meet shipping and transport deadlines. They overcame this challenge by pairing a new palletizing system with the Matthews’ MPERIA A-Series T63 automated pallet labeling system. As a result, the company doubled production capacity from 100 to 200 pallets per hour.

A Swedish snack manufacturer eliminated a bottleneck by automating pallet labeling – and in the process doubled production capacity.

Discover exceptional ROI

The biggest value automation brings is higher productivity and cost reduction by streamlining, reducing, or eliminating manual tasks.

In many cases, labeling is one of the most straightforward processes to automate while also offering the greatest return on investment.

Here’s how a printer label applicator can deliver a strong ROI:

• Increase product output without compromising on quality.
• Save labor costs by automating the labeling process and free up employees for other value-adding tasks.
• Save time on labeling, reduce delays, and improve order fulfillment times. Reduce labeling errors caused by humans and save on the cost of reworks and potential customer rejections and penalties.
• Improve quality by ensuring labels’ precise and consistent placement – no more misalignments.
• Reduce waste and save costs for wasted products or labels.

Save time on training and installation

Time is money in manufacturing. Your goal is to maximize your production line’s output and minimize downtime. However, installing a new machine and training line operators on that machine requires you to stop production and take operators away from their core tasks.

That’s why it makes good business sense to implement an automated print and apply labeling system during your line expansion.

Because you’re already expanding, integrating the labeler can be done with minimum disruption to the line. You can implement processes and train staff up front.

It’s never been this easy and fast

Automating your labeling process might seem overwhelming, but the MPERIA A-Series makes it easy. The system can be installed on practically any production line thanks to its wide variety of applicators and compact frame. With a simple and durable design, it delivers reliable performance and easy maintenance, while the user-friendly controller makes easy work of setup, printer control, and message editing.

When it’s time to hit go…

If you’re considering what kind of automation will bring the most value to your business now and in the future, labeling should be a strong contender. It is not only one of the simplest processes to automate, but the fast ROI of a printer label applicator means you’ll soon have a strong business case for automation across the rest of your operation.

Ready to expand and automate? Talk to our team and book your free onsite consultation and demo. Contact us on 800.775.7775 or fill out the quick form below.