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People ask us: How do you know when it’s time to consider purchasing new packaging capital equipment?

You’ve worked hard to develop your product line and promote your brand – and as a result, demand for your products is on the rise. With that growth, however, come new challenges related to increasing product throughput, improving business efficiency and managing costs. Packaging may look like an area that can be improved, and you’ve considered several ways to update, and or streamline your packaging operation. But how do you identify the right time to implement important changes?

Here are three key signals that will indicate it’s time to consider new packaging equipment.

  1.  Production is on the rise
    As manufacturing production rates rise to meet consumer demand, existing manual packing processes are creating production bottlenecks, and the need for some level of automation becomes apparent. It’s time to formulate a strategy for moving more products out the door and
    at the same time (ideally) reduce the labor costs associated with packaging. Almost every growing business experiences this common “Catch-22”: how does one justify new capital equipment without guaranteed sales, versus how can we sell more products if we can’t keep up with current
    demand? At some point something needs to change. Switching from hand packing to an automated system – even an entry-level solution – may be the winning strategy to facilitate the transition. The result can be the reduction of costly packaging bottlenecks, thus paving the way for increased
    production capability, improved margins and growth.
  2.  Capital equipment is approaching end-of-life
    Nothing lasts forever, and capital equipment end-of-life is a business reality. Most growing businesses that include packaging as part of their manufacturing process, will need to replace their equipment at some point. Everybody wishes to extract the absolute maximum value from their
    capital equipment. However, there comes a time when unreliable, outdated or otherwise inadequate equipment will cause a drag on productivity. Like automobile tires, production equipment will show signs of wear, and replacement sooner rather than later can avert tragedy. Astute management will
    anticipate this outcome and look to replace machines that are nearing end-of-life or obsolescence before production is seriously impaired.
  3. Costly production labor needs to be reallocated
    Companies often begin manufacturing on a small scale with manual, hand packaging, and then slowly transition as economies of scale warrant the increased use of packaging automation. This transition provides an opportunity to reassess business operations and enable management to take
    advantage of efficient, automated systems and at the same time move valuable employees to other, more critical positions within the organization. Labor costs are high, and the requirement that every employee is operating at his or her capacity is essential. Creating, and maintaining a business is challenging work – growing a small business into an enterprise is even harder. As your business evolves into a larger operation, identifying new packaging solutions and adapting to how packaging automation may be facilitated can be a critical step in managing increased production, optimizing labor overhead and lowering packaging costs.

PAC Machinery: Experience counts
For over four five decades, PAC Machinery has helped countless companies facilitate growth. We have accomplished this by offering what we believe to be the most comprehensive range of heat sealing flexible packaging equipment and materials in the flexible packaging industry. In a larger sense,
our companies manufacture much more than machines and bags: We deliver dependable, packaging solutions that are built to last. Our collective experience is acknowledged across the industry, as some of our brands represent the very foundation upon which the flexible packaging machinery industry was
built. If your growing business requires a dependable, long-lasting, flexible packaging solution, PAC Machinery can give you a competitive edge.

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