Only one in five companies have fully integrated automation lines in existence today, igniting a growing competitive demand to adopt technology on the plant floor to deal with the uptick in market complexity.

The global servo motors and drives market was valued at US $9 billion in 2014, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% between 2019 and 2029, for a global value of US $28 billion by the end of 2029.

Packaging is a constantly shifting environment. However, unlike the rest of production, packaging processes have been slow to uptake new technologies. Thankfully, with the rise of developments in technology, like sensors, human-machine interfaces and motion control, flexibility of the packaging line is better than ever.

Blister Packaging for Certain Immediate Release Opioid Analgesics for Treatment of Acute Pain – Docket No. FDA-2019-N-1845 as it relates to opioid packaging, and recently passed Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients (SUPPORT) Act, passed in late 2018.

Food packaging plants face a host of challenges in terms of eliminating food waste, improving safety and increasing uptime. These challenges are heightened by a confluence of external factors including pressure on margins, responding to real-time demand, requirements to use sustainable materials and others.

The Omron Automation Americas booth at PACK EXPO 2019 in Las Vegas will explore near-future manufacturing equipment as part of a wide-ranging, interactive demo including a new autonomous mobile manipulator.

Brenton will display a new, multifaceted aftermarket program that reduces downtime and increases the flexibility of end-of-line machines at PACK EXPO Las Vegas.

Bosch Packaging Technology will introduce its entry-level Pack 102 horizontal flow wrapper using a Fanuc Scara robot at IBIE.

Advances in all areas of automation technology continue to enable packaging operations to do more with less. New mechatronic solutions, which combine the principles of mechanical and electronic engineering for more flexible and adaptable machinery, take the next step.