Packaging Automation Mitigates Labor Shortages
In the latter half of 2021, labor shortages are taking place all over the United States. Some industries have been impacted more significantly than others, but it often seems like no matter where you turn, there’s a “Now Hiring” sign on the door or a job opening posted to an online board. When it gets difficult to find employees, another solution to get goods out the door and into the hands of your customers becomes essential. This is where packaging automation comes into play. Through efficiency, accuracy, and ease of use, a one-time investment in packaging automation mitigates the labor shortages faced by your company.
The Current State of Labor in the U.S.
As of April 2021, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that there were over 9.3 million open jobs around the country. Among those businesses who saw the most significant labor shortages, American manufacturers of non-durable goods (products that generally don’t last a long time) struggled to find one new hire per two open positions. Furthermore, approximately 73% of all manufacturers in the U.S. reported a “moderate to severe” worker shortage, with 11% of manufacturers saying that these shortages affected their revenue.
Other industries that have experienced shortages include businesses like textile mills, sawmills, and beyond. With only about 10% of job seekers “urgently” looking for new employment, it’s been immensely difficult for companies around the nation to find the workers they need. For many businesses, there’s a simple solution that can help in a big way – automation.
The Automation Advantage
Automation, whether it’s packaging automation or otherwise, comes with a huge variety of advantages. This one-time investment costs significantly less than the comparable manual labor over the same period, while boosting your productivity, accuracy, and efficiency at the same time. Often, the primary concern over automation is that it will “steal” jobs from qualified workers. However, history has generally shown that technological innovation like packaging automation tends to actually optimize job growth. This occurs because automation takes over the boring, repetitive, and risky job functions that most people don’t enjoy performing, which allows individuals to learn new tasks and take on new jobs. Better yet, many of these new positions offer better pay. Larger paychecks mean increased economic activity which means increased demand for labor in other areas of the economy. Automation is a win-win situation for us all.
Packaging Automation Brings the Best
Even when not facing a labor shortage, manual packaging processes cost you money. It's a simple fact that packaging equipment improves throughput, offers outstanding accuracy, and brings impressive ROI in as little as eight months to a year. This becomes especially true when your company can’t find the manual labor to perform your usual packaging tasks. For example, one automatic case erector can assemble about 27 boxes per minute, whereas one person can only put together about three cartons in the same amount of time.
Additionally, the case erector only requires one or two people to operate. What about stretch wrappers? An automatic stretch film machine can wrap pallets at a speed of as much as 55 loads per hour with incredible accuracy, all while only requiring a single person to operate. And think about case sealers too. One case sealer closes cartons at a rate of as much as six times faster than a person manually sealing those same boxes. It’s clear – packaging automation reduces the total amount of people needed to run your packaging line, while improving your work and saving you money at the exact same time.
Full Speed Ahead
Dealing with a labor shortage while trying to run a successful operation is never easy. You need the work done correctly and in a timely manner, and if you don’t have the staff to get it all done, things can feel impossible. Let IPS Packaging & Automation ease that burden for you with the help of packaging automation. Contact or call us today at (800) 277-7007 to get started on finding the packaging equipment your facility needs to keep moving full speed ahead.
