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November 2009

OMAC News

Integration, efficiency see boost in packaging survey

Enterprise integration, equipment efficiency, standards use, and data acquisition were all on the upswing as reported by the latest packaging automation survey from OMAC Packaging Workgroup (OPW) in conjunction with Packaging World Magazine and Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute. The results were presented during the OPW User Meeting held at PACK EXPO in Las Vegas.

This survey is similar to a survey conducted in 2006 and allows comparison of how the packaging automation industry has changed in the last three years. As in 2006, the survey was aimed at suppliers of packaging machinery and users/buyers of packaging machinery. Out of 287 respondents, 44% were suppliers, and 56% were users/buyers.

Increase in data acquisition

The survey indicates a significant increase in use of automatic data acquisition on packaging lines, although there is still a much higher percentage of packaging lines that do not have automatic data acquisition versus those that do. Users with greater than 75% of packaging lines have increased data acquisition to 24.8% in 2009, up from 16.5% in 2006.

Equipment efficiency boost

Of the 68.6% of users who tracked the packaging line overall equipment efficiency (OEE), 27.5% reported OEE above 80%, and another 47.5% reported OEE between 60% and 80%. The survey also showed a good correlation between those having a high packaging line OEE and those with automatic data acquisition system on their packaging lines.

More integrating lines to ERP

There was a huge increase in users integrating packaging lines to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems—25.2% in 2009 opposed to 7% in 2006. Results showed a strong correlation between users with ERP integration and those with high packaging-line OEE. Those with ERP integration were also users with automatic DAS on their packaging lines.

Increase in standards use

Adoption of the OMAC standards has increased from the users/buyers and suppliers of packaging machinery, although there is plenty of opportunity for further adoption. Users who specify OMAC standards have increased from 20.1% in 2006 to 31.7% in 2009. For suppliers, the percent who implement the OMAC standards has increased from 24.1% in 2006 to 28.7% in 2009.

The summary presentation on the 2009 packaging automation survey is available on the OMAC web site (www.omac.org/packaging). The complete detailed survey results are available to OMAC corporate members.