The global market for palletizing machinery is forecast to reach $706.74 million by the year 2017, according to a new report from Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Soaring energy costs, changing consumer preferences, a well-diversified portfolio of end-use industries, technological advancements, mushrooming product innovations, and safety concerns continue to be the key growth drivers for the global palletizing machinery market.
Further, continued growth in economies such as China and India even during the recent economic recession, and recovering economic growth in developed nations worldwide are expected to result in increased sales of packaging machinery, including filling machinery, closing machinery, palletizing machinery, form-fill-seal machinery, and wrapping machinery in the next few years.
Palletizing and pallet packaging represent highly versatile facets of the end of a packaging line, which is the key function of every industry and marks the beginning of a product’s journey involving complex distribution network and transportation modes. With the outcome of a business closely linked to end-of-line packaging, palletizing and pallet packaging technologies are assuming an increasingly important role in every industry.
Palletizing techniques vary from manual palletizing to automatic and semi automatic techniques, the implementation of which differs depending on the palletizing needs of the end-users. Remarkable breakthroughs in technology, need to enhance speed and quality of packaging lines; plus fast changing dynamics of marketing and consumer preferences, has driven the development and emergence of more advanced automatic and robotic solutions.
Today, robotics has become an indispensable part of the packaging industry. Other remarkable trend in palletizing machinery market include the evolution of new Human Machine Interface (HMI) controls, which are transforming both traditional and robotic palletizers by allowing reconfiguration of machines for handling various case sizes, multiple product layers, and pallet patterns.
Automated inline and robotic palletizers are finding increasing applications in the industrial palletizing operations, primarily on account of stringent safety and occupational health laws in advanced industrial economies, such as Europe and North America. Automated pallet-handling technologies, including Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) and pallet-moving technologies, are soaring in popularity, driven largely by the escalating labor and warehousing costs.
Mixed-load palletizing represents the other major trend in the palletizing machinery market. Use of mixed-load palletizers is growing rapidly as compared to the conventional one machine filling an entire pallet. Growing number of customer industries, including the distribution centers, are demanding more of robotic systems for the placement of numerous products on a single pallet.
Major players profiled in the report include A-B-C Packaging Machine Corp., ABB Flexible Automation Inc., Adept Technology Inc., American-Newlong Inc., Bastian Material Handing LLC, BEUMER Corporation, Brenton Engineering Company, Columbia/Okura LLC, Conveying Industries Inc., Emmeti SPA, FANUC Robotics America Inc., FleetwoodGoldcoWyard Inc., C&D Skilled Robotics Inc., Kawasaki Robotics Inc., Intelligrated Inc., KUKA Roboter GmbH, Maschinenfabrik Möllers GmbH, Krones Inc., Motoman Inc., Newtec International, Nachi Robotic Systems Inc., PaR Systems Inc., Priority One Packaging Ltd., REIS ROBOTICS, Schneider Packaging Equipment Co. Inc., Sidel SA, StrongPoint Automation Inc., Thiele Technologies Inc., among others.
Region-wise, Europe represents the largest region for palletizing machinery, the report notes. The United States, however, represents the single largest market. The Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States together constitute the lion’s share of the world market for palletizing machinery. Asia-Pacific is expected to emerge as the fastest growing market for palletizing machinery, with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% over the analysis period.
Developed markets are projected to register slow growth, giving way to the rapidly expanding Asian, Latin American, and the Middle Eastern markets. Improved performance of emerging regions is attributed to increased industrial demand, rapid expansion of food processing and consumer durables sectors, and burgeoning foreign investment in local production facilities.
In terms of product segments, case palletizers, which mostly handle firm-shaped packages, leads the global market for palletizing machinery. Bulk Palletizers, which palletize products such as bottles and cans, is likely to emerge as the fastest growing product segment with a CAGR of more than 4% over the analysis period. Food and beverage industry represents the largest as well as the fastest growing end-use market for palletizing machinery worldwide.
Packaging is assuming a critical role in inducing point-of-sale purchases and consumer goods. Food and beverages industries are increasingly adopting newer and efficient ways to packaging, increasing demand for newer machinery. Constant innovations are also resulting in cheaper and sophisticated machinery upgrades, lowering overall investment cost and time, driving demand for rebuilt machinery. Further, robotics has become an indispensable part of the packaging machinery market, backed by its ability to accomplish a variety of tasks, including palletizing and depalletizing, carton loading/case packing, and product loading/unloading.
Despite the high initial investment, robotic palletizers are proving a cost effective option in the long run because of reduced labor and inventory costs. Dual-arm robots, in particular, provide greater efficiency in terms of handling heavy objects, such as divider sheets, cases, and trays are witnessing wide acceptance among end-use industries.
The research report titled “Palletizing Machinery: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of the Palletizing Machinery market, current market trends and issues, competitive scenario, overview of key end-use industries, product details, regulatory scenario, product launches/innovations, recent industry activity, and profiles of major/niche global market participants. The report provides annual value sales estimates and projections for palletizing machinery market for the years 2009 through 2017 for the following geographic markets- US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Latin America. Key product segments analyzed include Bulk Palletizers, Case Palletizers, and Other Palletizers. The report also analyzes the Palletizing Machinery market for the following end-use industries – Petrochemicals, Food & Beverages, and Other Industries. Also, a six-year (2003-2008) historic analysis is provided for an additional perspective. The report also provides market size estimates and forecasts in units for the US and Canadian markets.
SOURCE: Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
