Companies of all sizes and industries have had to adapt their business practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, 90% of U.S. companies have noted that their ability to meet customer demand has been directly impacted, influencing their increased interest in technological solutions¹.

Even before COVID-19, automation has repeatedly proven its value to fresh produce operations in five key areas of performance:

• maximizing yield
• reducing waste
• improving production line reliability
• maximizing hygiene and safety
• and enabling sophisticated product grading – all directly driving brand growth.

To combat food insecurity in particular, demand for expedited distribution in the fresh produce industry has driven decision-makers to look toward automation solutions that create operational efficiencies. It has also been suggested that as companies work to manage employee health and associated  labor shortages automation will again play a key role¹. 

While the impact of COVID is expected to have a large influence on business for the next few months or even a year, a majority of industries including food and beverage, are leaning towards the adoption of automated processes to offset their current operational capabilities². High levels of competition and growing focus on reducing the turnaround time have prompted food producers across the world toward automation. In a bid to retain high levels of throughput and efficiency, companies have recognized gaps and are now more willing to invest in packaging and weighing equipment to fill that need.

Fox Solutions manufactures a Wicketed Bagger, model FSPB3, which delivers the most versatile performance on the market. Combined with a NEWTEC 4000 Series weigher, you an pair up to 4 Wicketed Baggers to 1 weigher for operational performance that will meet the production goals you need to achieve.

In a related trend, Fox Packaging has seen an uptick in requests for consumer size packaging in 1lb, 3lb, and 5lb pack sizes for potatoes, onions, and citrus. In fact, an unrelated Q3 report showed growth in several packaging-related categories^3.

• “Packaging” as the 12^th most sourced product category
• 173% growth in sourcing activity for “Agricultural Packaging”
• “Packaging Machinery” saw an 84% increase

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 3 Considerations For Adopting Packing Automation⁴?

• While packing systems are driving the market, the requirement for a higher initial capital investment inhibits smaller organizations from onboarding the necessary solutions. However, automation systems, dependent on the throughput of product, can render a ROI within three years.
• Companies can focus on gaining a higher cost realization by achieving higher efficiency and cost reduction in their overall operation.
• With equipment solutions like the automated robotic palletizer, manufacturers can achieve greater productivity by allowing machines to stack to particular customer pallet specifications

Automation can serve to accelerate and support long-term success beyond the pandemic. What do you need to consider when selecting an equipment partner? Fox Solutions is staying at the forefront of the latest trends and manufacturing equipment that supports the increase of your competitive position though automation. For more information, email info@foxbag.com.

Sources

1. Wind River COVID-19 Report: Pandemic Becoming a Trigger for Certain Enterprises to Accelerate Transformation. 2020.

2. Impact of Covid-19 on Food Automation Market: Meticulous Research® Viewpoint. June 8, 2020.

3. Buyers are actively searching for new supplier partners for their packaging materials needs in 2020. October 8, 2020.

4. Packaging Automation Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020-2025). 2019.