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There is a branch of the economy that involves supplying stores with everyday and basic necessities. This is the FMCG industry, or Fast Moving Consumer Goods, which is responsible for supplying food, beverages, snacks, sweets, ready meals, dietary supplements, cosmetics, cleaning and hygiene products, household chemicals and other household items, among others.
As NIQ’s Retail Measurement Services (RMS) data on the Western European economy shows, the market grew by 4.4% in 2022, despite a gentle decline in sales volume, and the global market grew by as much as 6.3% during that time. This was happening despite the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and global chain problems.
In Poland, according to NielsenIQ data, sales growth over the past 12 months to June 2023 was 15.2%, but this is almost entirely due to inflation. By contrast, sales by volume are flat (with a 1.3% decline in the food and beverage sector). The analysis presented also shows that customers are moving to discounters and reaching for their own brands. This is good news, that despite the historical turmoil, consumption is not falling, but is shifting its center of gravity.
For more information on the situation in Poland after Q2 2023, see Retail News (Wiadomości Handlowe).
Discounters require… discount packaging
Among the very many requirements that medium-size store chains place on white label manufacturers is shelf-ready packaging. These, called display packaging, discount packaging, or in English display or SRP (shelf ready packaging) can be very different in design or form.
The principle is simple, they are all designed to, firstly, allow the product to be transported safely and efficiently from the manufacturer through logistics centers to the store. And secondly, to allow easy and quick placement and management of the product on the store shelf. And by doing so, also serve as a form of marketing and display for the product itself. As such, therefore, the common feature of packaging is the easily removable top and front of the package, or lack thereof. The construction itself, however, can vary greatly. Displeases can take the form of an automatically or manually (with flaps) sealed cardboard box – only that they always have perforations. They can have a cardboard insert instead of a top or top and front. They can have a loosely applied canopy, also known as a lid. Or, finally, they can be tray-style packaging, fully open or not, with or without a lid. As you can see, the multitude of options is great.
Packaging and palletizing automation
Any change of packaging, to a new design, is a headache for many people at the plant. Display packaging, in many, though not all cases, is no exception.
For many companies producing private label FMCG products, especially medium-sized plants, automation of packaging and palletization processes has so far remained out of reach. And this is precisely because of the very structure of packaging, which cannot be easily grasped from above with automatic handling. This was only possible with large industrial robot-based palletizers. These, however, were out of reach due to their enormous capacity and cost.
Only collaborative robot-based palletizing opened the door for many factories to automatically palletize packages at the end of the line. However, even here, with displey prepared for retail chains, not everything was possible.
HEXA from Beboq Robotics for FMCG manufacturers.
As we have already mentioned, cobot palletization of discount packaging is difficult. This is due to the nature of the bulk packaging – strength, structure – in a word, the inability to grab from the top. At beboq robotics, however, we have developed a solution dedicated to palletizing such boxes. It is the only such station that can operate as a collaborative – that is, without fences, scanners and other safety features, all the while remaining safe for the workers around. Based on a 7th-axis collaborative robot from Kassow Robots (Bosch Rexroth Group), it can handle up to 8.5 kg of bulk packages working up to 5 cycles per minute. Ideal for any medium-capacity line. Also ideal for use after a manual packing station.
Learn more about KR cobot palletizing.