Operators at the packaging facility were sustaining repetitive stress injuries due to the repetitive nature of erecting cartons and folding tabs closed. Pipeline was engaged to develop an automated machine to perform these activities, and that did so within a cycle time frame that did not reduce the operators’ throughput.

While carton erecting machines already exist commercially, the specific size and shape of the customer’s cartons was unique enough that no off the shelf solutions existed that would accommodate them. Thus, a custom automated solution was required. To further increase the complexity of requirements, the machine had to accommodate vastly different shapes and lengths of the customer’s cartons. In the end, Pipeline developed a solution that not only accommodated the required cartons, but also accommodates a wide range of add’l shapes and sizes should the customer introduce new cartons in the future.