Automating one of the most monotonous jobs in the plant is not just good for the welfare of your workforce, it’s good for your wallet.
There are strategic benefits of replacing the unpleasant, non-core, low skill, and injury-prone job of manual palletizing with automation:
- Manual handling is a leading source of workplace injuries, accounting for 40 percent of all reported injuries.
- Pallet stacking attracts the attention of OSHA, whose guidelines restrict lifting height and the repetitive handling of items above 25 lbs.
- Combined with an aging workforce and the intensifying worker shortage, companies requiring palletizing are struggling to find and keep qualified employees.
You might also consider some of the indirect costs associated with using manual labor to do a job that a machine can do better:
- (Re)hiring
- (Re)training
- Supervising
- Protecting
- Retaining
But the most compelling reason to automate your palletizing operations is of course ROI. The advent of compact palletizers has made automated palletizing equipment both operationally feasible and increasingly affordable. Unlike highly custom-engineered robotic arm systems, compact palletizers can be easy to specify, implement, use, and redeploy. This translates into lower total project cost and effort. In fact, the payback on some compact palletizers can be as quick as 2-3 years. And equipment financing – now available for palletizing machines – can result in monthly payments that are lower than what you are paying for manual labor!
A compact palletizer can be a great solution when looking for an alternative to the price, pain, and perils of manual palletizing labor. Contact our packaging specialists for more information.