Learning Center

Whether you’re looking for solutions to specific challenges or wanting to deepen your overall knowledge of secondary packaging, our Learning Center is designed to give you the resources to make confident decisions about your secondary packaging systems.

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Cost & Price

What Actually Drives Secondary Packaging TCO (Ranked by Impact)

Learn where total cost of ownership is actually created—so you know where to spend time, where to push vendors, and where cutting corners will cost you later.

Return on Investment (ROI) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Light column that indicates status of machine

Problems / Challenges

Why CPG Secondary Packaging Projects Underperform: 20 Fixable Gaps

Walk through 20 of the most common and costly equipment gaps in secondary packaging—and how to mitigate them early.

Delays Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Bags of pet food being loaded into a case

How-To, Problems / Challenges

High-SKU Pet Food Operations: How to Cut Changeover Time in Case Packing and Palletizing

Break down what’s really happening in your end-of-line operations and build a plant-floor playbook that separates what’s process, what’s equipment, and what’s design.

Changeover Pet Food

How-To, Secondary Packaging 101

A Buyer’s Guide to Automating Frozen Pizza Packaging Lines

Walk through the most important factors to consider when automating frozen pizza packaging—so you can make a confident, future-proof decision.

Frozen Food Pizza

How-To, Secondary Packaging 101

How to Automate Variety Pack Production Without Overbuilding or Overpaying

Learn which type of automation is right for your production scale, space, and SKU needs—whether you’re packing beverages or assembling snack assortments.

Variety Pack

People talking in front of top load case packer

Cost & Price

How Much Does a Top Load Case Packer Cost? Budgetary Pricing & Key Factors That Impact Price

Learn the budgetary price ranges you can expect, along with the specific factors that drive those prices.

Case Packing

Douglas Service Technician working on machine

Problems / Challenges

How Quickly Can I Get a Service Technician to My Site?

Get realistic timelines for emergency and planned service, plus practical steps that can reduce delays by days.

Delays Field Service

Comparisons

Managing Replacement Parts for OEM Equipment: Choosing the Right Partner Model

Break down the real-world pros, cons, and risks of sourcing parts from OEMs, distributors, or directly from component manufacturers.

Aftermarket Replacement Parts

Comparisons

U.S.-Made vs. Imported OEM Packaging Equipment: Which Is Actually Better in the Long Run?

Get a side-by-side breakdown of what makes one operation more cost-effective than the other—in terms that refelct the realities of manufacturing operations.

Imported Made in the USA

1 … 3 4 5 6 7

Worker wearing hardhat and holding clipboard observing machine conveyor lines

Secondary Packaging 101

What Is a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) and Why Does It Matter?

Understand what a good FAT looks like so you can help protect your investment.

Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) Site Acceptance Test (SAT)

Secondary Packaging 101

What Is ‘Machine Efficiency’ and How Is It Calculated?

Learn the details of this commonly misunderstood metric so you can set realistic efficiency benchmarks for your application.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)

Secondary Packaging 101

What is ‘Sanitary Design’ in Packaging Equipment — and Does It Matter for Your Application?

Learn the principles of sanitary packaging design and whether your application requires sanitary equipment.

Regulations Sanitary Design Washdown

Case and tray packed with aluminum cans on a gray background

Comparisons, Secondary Packaging 101

What’s the Difference Between a Case Packer and a Tray Packer?

Learn the essential difference between case and tray packers and when their format works best for your application.

Case Packing Secondary Packaging Tray Packing

Problems / Challenges

Factory Tested Sizes: Why Cheaper FAT Scope Often Costs More Later

Understand the value differences between a thorough FAT scope and a shallow FAT scope — and which investment costs more in the long term.

Delays Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) Pricing Startup

Problems / Challenges

Commissioning Governance for Packaging Equipment: How to Run Startup Without Chaos

Get a clear, practical guide for CPG manufacturers commissioning new packaging equipment.

Commissioning Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Startup

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 … 10

HORIZONTAL LOAD

TOP LOAD

SHRINK WRAPPERS

SHRINK PACKERS

MULTIWRAPPERS

CARTONERS

SLEEVERS

MULTIPACKERS

Learning Center

Whether you’re looking for solutions to specific challenges or wanting to deepen your overall knowledge of secondary packaging, our Learning Center is designed to give you the resources to make confident decisions about your secondary packaging systems.

Filter by Category

Filter by Topic

Filter by Type

What Actually Drives Secondary Packaging TCO (Ranked by Impact)

Why CPG Secondary Packaging Projects Underperform: 20 Fixable Gaps

High-SKU Pet Food Operations: How to Cut Changeover Time in Case Packing and Palletizing

A Buyer’s Guide to Automating Frozen Pizza Packaging Lines

How to Automate Variety Pack Production Without Overbuilding or Overpaying

How Much Does a Top Load Case Packer Cost? Budgetary Pricing & Key Factors That Impact Price

How Quickly Can I Get a Service Technician to My Site?

Managing Replacement Parts for OEM Equipment: Choosing the Right Partner Model

U.S.-Made vs. Imported OEM Packaging Equipment: Which Is Actually Better in the Long Run?

What Is a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) and Why Does It Matter?

What Is ‘Machine Efficiency’ and How Is It Calculated?

What is ‘Sanitary Design’ in Packaging Equipment — and Does It Matter for Your Application?

What’s the Difference Between a Case Packer and a Tray Packer?

Factory Tested Sizes: Why Cheaper FAT Scope Often Costs More Later

Commissioning Governance for Packaging Equipment: How to Run Startup Without Chaos

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