Fulfillment is a major challenge for e-commerce businesses, as they need to streamline packaging and order fulfillment to meet growing global demand. Online shoppers now expect faster turnaround times.
With fewer workers available, companies are turning to automated e-commerce packaging technologies, either partially or fully automated. This reduces labor costs and allows businesses to focus on tasks beyond repetitive fulfillment.
Benefits of E-Commerce Packaging Automation
When it comes to e-commerce, packaging automation has many benefits aside from achieving a greater throughput. Automation can help build a more sustainable and eco-friendly business. New methods in e-commerce packaging help businesses utilize data more than ever before.
Data connections are vital to understanding their supply chain overview. Furthermore, packaging automation can detect issues or concerns they need to know right away in the fulfillment process.
Things to Consider When Automating Packaging
When e-commerce businesses explore new packaging methods, they should first consider line automation. Understanding the automation process helps determine the best fit for their operations.
For businesses with many single-line orders, automated systems that pick the most efficient box size are ideal. These solutions can quickly fill boxes and select the correct size for shipments.
For companies with many multi-line orders, robotic machinery may be more suitable. These robots can handle picking items and maintaining quality and speed. Businesses should choose based on their order history.
Automated packaging also improves product tracking, generating labels to streamline the process. RFID technology can track products throughout the warehouse.
E-commerce businesses should also consider automation for packaging designs, which can produce custom prints cost-effectively at scale.
As online shopping continues to grow, automated packaging offers a competitive edge in the e-commerce market.