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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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Illustration of dashed arrows indicating intermittent motion and one long arrow indicating continuous motion

Comparisons

Intermittent vs Continuous Motion Packaging Machines: What’s the Difference?

Packaging machines move either intermittently or continuously. We’ll help you understand both types of motion and how they impact things like cost, speed, product handling, and changeovers.

Indexing

Graph showing mean time between failures with design-target mean time at 24 hours and field-tested mean time at 19 hours

Secondary Packaging 101

What is MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)?

MTBF is a common spec sheet number, and one that many buyers don’t understand. We’ll outline what MTBF is, how to calculate it, and what it means for your line.

How-To

How to Read and Respond to Common K6000 Faults

Kinetix 6000 (K6000) fault codes can often be remedied with the right know-how. We’ll help you understand how to read power-ups, status lights, and fault codes, to get to the root cause of drive issues.

Fault codes Faults K6000 Kinetix Servo Drive

Kinetix 6000 part with "discontinued" banner on top

Problems / Challenges

How Do I Navigate K6000 Obsolescence?

Allen-Bradley moved the Kinetix 6000 (K6000) servo drive to obsolete status, which means no new units and a used-only supply. We can help you navigate this change and offer options on how to proceed.

Aftermarket Obsolescence Risks Servo Drive

Hand holding a security padlock next to the eight listed steps of lockout tagout

How-To

What is the Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Requirement for Packaging Equipment?

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is a federal safety requirement that makes sure machines are de-energized before maintenance. We’ll walk you through the eight-step procedure, explain your role, and show how it applies to the equipment you work with.

Federal Safety Requirement Hazardous Energy Lockout LOTO OSHA Safety Tagout

Split image showing before and after of machine refurbishment

Comparisons

What Is Equipment Refurbishment and When Is It Better Than Replacement?

Learn the 50% rule and a five-question framework to help you distinguish when refurbishment and when replacement makes the most economic and operational sense.

Machinery Lifecycle Obsolescence Refurbishment Repair

OEE = availability x performance x quality

Secondary Packaging 101

The Three Components of OEE: Availability, Performance, Quality (and the Six Big Losses)

Understand the three independent components of OEE and learn how to identify which one is dragging your OEE down.

Diagnostics Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Productivity

Productivity comparison graphs of non-vertical startup and vertical startup

Secondary Packaging 101

Vertical Startup: Why It Matters

Vertical startup is the achievement of stable throughput and quality within days of going live, not just the installation event. Understand the difference and how you can plan for this success.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Productivity Return on Investment (ROI) Startup Vertical Startup

Predictive vs Preventive Maintenance article header graphic - PF Curve

Secondary Packaging 101

Predictive vs Preventive Maintenance: How Do They Differ?

Learn how to tell which type of maintenance your high-value assets need and where traditional maintenance still makes business sense.

CMMS Equipment Reliability P-F Curve Predictive Maintenance Preventive Maintenance

1 2 3 4 5 … 8

How-To, Problems / Challenges

Why Packaging Line Startups Fail — And How to Achieve Vertical Startup

Learn why most CPG packaging startups fail, how world-class companies use FAT and SAT to prevent performance dip, and practical steps you can take to achieve vertical startup.

Commissioning Startup

Problems / Challenges

The Packaging Risk Nobody Budgets For: Retiring Expertise

Learn the 5 risks of retiring expertise, the leading indicators to watch out for, and what helps reduce the risks.

Retirement Risks

Robotic arms on a secondary packaging machine

Problems / Challenges

Robotics in Secondary Packaging: When It’s Worth It, When It’s Not, and How to Prove ROI

Learn the conditions where robotics beat manual and traditional automation, the scenarios where you should pick a different solution, and a credibility framework Finance can trust.

Purchasing Return on Investment (ROI) Robotics

How-To, Problems / Challenges

5 Metrics Every CPG Manufacturer Must Master for Omnichannel Packaging Success

Learn how e-commerce is changing end-of-line packaging, why traditional KPIs fall short, and how to realign your packaging strategy to meet e-commerce head-on.

E-commerce KPIs Metrics

Two people at machine looking at document

Problems / Challenges

The CPG Startup Readiness Checklist: 25 Questions to Prevent the Performance Dip

Get a 25-question readiness checklist spanning FAT, SAT, training, OEM relationships, and startup ownership – so you can identify gaps before they turn into downtime.

Commissioning

People talking around a packaging machine

Problems / Challenges

Which FAT Shortcuts Most Reliably Predict a Painful Commissioning?

Learn which FAT compromises are survivable, which almost guarantee pain, and where that risk will surface once the equipment hits your floor.

FAT

1 … 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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

Intermittent vs Continuous Motion Packaging Machines: What’s the Difference?

What is MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures)?

How to Read and Respond to Common K6000 Faults

How Do I Navigate K6000 Obsolescence?

What is the Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) Requirement for Packaging Equipment?

What Is Equipment Refurbishment and When Is It Better Than Replacement?

The Three Components of OEE: Availability, Performance, Quality (and the Six Big Losses)

Vertical Startup: Why It Matters

Predictive vs Preventive Maintenance: How Do They Differ?

Why Packaging Line Startups Fail — And How to Achieve Vertical Startup

The Packaging Risk Nobody Budgets For: Retiring Expertise

Robotics in Secondary Packaging: When It’s Worth It, When It’s Not, and How to Prove ROI

5 Metrics Every CPG Manufacturer Must Master for Omnichannel Packaging Success

The CPG Startup Readiness Checklist: 25 Questions to Prevent the Performance Dip

Which FAT Shortcuts Most Reliably Predict a Painful Commissioning?

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