The modular mandate to future-proof packaging automation

Logistics depends on automation to get the boxes out. We may be tired of hearing it, but just look around. Since the time that Amazon made it possible to shop online, and a box appeared at the door, logistics of goods has changed. There is a box somewhere within your vicinity, right now, as you are reading this, that contains something ordered online.

The history of this goes back to the beginning of mankind where a person would carry a package for someone somewhere. Our mail system is built on it. Airlines depend on it for different revenue streams. Cargo is not new to the world. Planes, trains and automobiles make the world hum. The first boxing machine that was automated arrived between 1908 and 1913, or at least those are the years the patents can be traced to.

The goal was to speed up packaging. The solution was automation. Automation makes packaging hum, whether it was in 1913 or in 2026. “Automated Packaging Solutions Market Size Report, 2033,” from Grand View Research, splits the packaging market into packaging robots, automated conveyor and sort systems, secondary automated packaging, tertiary and palletizing automation.

Grand View projects a $140.8 billion market by 2033. This means packaging is not going away. Siemens, Rockwell Automation and other automation companies constantly push solutions in the packaging arena. It is also about form factor and materials as companies like Tetra Pak push to create sustainable carton materials to meet environmental and corporate sustainment goals. Other industries that feed packaging are the paper industry and plastics. Everyone loves that their pop bottles are thinner now, correct? The point is that just like automobiles, packaging affects many manufacturing revenue streams, from materials to medicine.

Pack Expo 2026 highlighted artificial intelligence (AI), flexible machinery to improve line efficiency and support long-term growth. Automation and robotics, along with modularity for quick changeouts, is being prioritized. Traceability has not gone away either, as any commodity that has an expiration date must be traced. Thus, what should machine builders focus on?

Modularity of machines and traceability would be heavy hitters for any company wishing to stay competitive. Why? If a company can buy one line that feeds different packaging lines or that could offload to different types of packaging, then one company can package for more than one customer with the same resource—have the flexibility to change package or pallet sizes, or the ability to do pallet load, unload to straight feed.

Modularity allows for independent, interchangeable units. A line configuration may change based on fillers, labelers or cappers. This means a company may flex with the market if they need to scale. But how to do this as a machine builder? Things to consider are to use generic protocols for communications, build machines that can be moved electrically, that is, can be sourced for power and air independently, or provide connections that allow a bus to continue such as M12 or M23. Since this market does not require heavy duty, then stick to lower voltages. Choose conveyors that can be added onto, or have segue equipment to allow extensions or bridges. Packaging automation and semiconductor chip automation have this in common. Plastic extrusion has done it for a while as well, as far as being able to insert different molds into an extrusion line without having to rebuild.

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Data must be considered in this modular architecture because when a process is inserted or taken away, the code must know for traceability and quality control. Thus, the machine should allow for inputs and outputs that allow it to be connected to a process. This is feasible by adopting code to the physical modularity and understanding process so that the component configuration can be turned on or off by the main line. Also, the integrated module must know when it is in operation. Using a smaller PLC to act like remote I/O to a larger line makes this possible, assuming that the communication is Ethernet and every component can communicate or see the addition. End-of-line equipment is easy because automation can be triggered via proximity switches to start conveyor feeds.

Modularity adds complexity, but this is why building software in modular units is ideal, as well. Why? Just like the physical component, routines may be turned on and off based on hardware configuration. Knowing where the product is in the process is key.

Packaging sequence steps are the same as far as product infeed, measurement and filling, primary packaging, inspection and control, final discharge for distribution. Primary infeed can be vibratory lines, conveyors or robotic pick-and-place. Measurement and filling are where pills are counted, bottles filled or chips put in bags, raisins put in pouches or razor heads added to the little trays. Then the product is sent to be grouped into six packs, cartons, cases or shrink-wrapped bundles. Quality and inspection make sure the counts are accurate, there is no broken glass, the seams match, and there is not a hole in the bag. Then the product gets labeled and QR-coded and sent out to be boxed and put on palette.

This type of architecture, along with the smaller, station-type work cells and lower load motors with motion and vision, make industrial computer-based control systems ideal for the packaging automation space.

All industries could learn from the packaging industry as far as utilization of modularity and traceability. The ability to adapt a machine to demand and get proper feedback for material use is critical anywhere in automation, as downtime and lost resources cost money. After all, automation should make your business easier, not harder.