How Intelligent Automation Helps Overcome the Skilled Labor Shortage

The packaging industry is facing one of its greatest current challenges due to the shortage of skilled labor, especially in Europe. The gap between demand and the available workforce is growing, especially for specialized technical profiles. To remain competitive in the future, experts such as Mikel Rojo, Head of Marketing at ULMA Packaging, see a promising path forward: the intelligent automation of holistic packaging processes.

ULMA Packaging, a traditional company headquartered in the Basque Country, a region with a strong industrial structure, also feels the competition among industry players for the talent that has become scarce. To remain competitive despite a depleted labor market, the company activated the decisive lever early on, both for itself and for its customers: customized automation and its own research center, where more than 50 engineers work on the further development of intelligent robotics.

The ongoing personnel problem has developed into an overarching, strategic issue for industrial competitiveness: "In addition to its obvious impact on production capacity, it hampers the ability to respond quickly to changing market opportunities, customer needs, and innovation requirements," summarizes Mikel Rojo. Many of his customers work closely with supermarket chains and retailers, which creates increasing pressure from various directions: companies must shorten lead times, increase production capacity, improve efficiency, ensure quality, and at the same time meet growing sustainability requirements. "They are also expected to implement innovations faster while maintaining competitive costs." This list of requirements means that industrial customers increasingly depend on more comprehensive solutions: they need more than just a packaging machine. The focus is shifting to optimizing the entire production process.

Automation directly addresses several of the most significant challenges facing the packaging industry today: labor shortages, pressure to increase productivity, quality requirements, cost control, and the need for flexibility.

Many areas of production still involve repetitive, physically demanding, or monotonous tasks that are currently performed primarily by humans. By automating these tasks, companies reduce their vulnerability to staff absences, skilled labor shortages, and bottlenecks in the production process. “This relief is particularly relevant in multi-shift operations,” emphasizes Mikel Rojo. “Here, automation creates stability, continuity, and thus long-term competitiveness.”

Automation solutions can cover various areas of the production process, from product handling and feeding to quality control, secondary packaging, carton packaging, and palletizing. At ULMA Packaging, for example, the goal is to consistently offer comprehensive, customized solutions that automate not only the packaging phase but the entire production process. Rojo explains: “It’s crucial not to automate just for the sake of automation. It only makes sense if it meets a specific need and creates measurable added value.”

It is important to analyze where recurring tasks, physically demanding work steps, quality risks, bottlenecks, high dependency on manual labor, or difficulties related to shift work arise. These are typically the areas where automation can have the greatest impact.

In addition to the technical aspects, it is equally important to identify production priorities, framework conditions – such as available space – product characteristics, and the customer’s future growth expectations. “Based on this, our technical teams and automation specialists develop solutions tailored to each individual case.” In many projects, this involves integrating various technologies. A clear example is the automation of end-of-line (EOL) processes: technologies that automate the final steps of manufacturing – such as packaging, palletizing, quality inspection, and labeling.

For Mikel Rojo, it’s important to emphasize that automation does not go hand in hand with job losses: “It changes and enriches work, relieving employees of the most repetitive or physically demanding tasks while simultaneously creating a need for more highly qualified specialists: people who can operate and monitor complex systems, but also maintain, program, and optimize them.” In short: Maintenance is becoming more important, but it is also becoming more specialized. Knowledge in areas such as robotics, electronics, mechanics, automation software, data analysis, and industrial networking is becoming more relevant.

Consequently, automation is not only the answer to the labor shortage, but also a way to improve the quality of employment in the packaging industry and create new career paths within manufacturing companies. And finally, it makes industrial jobs more attractive: Repetitive manual tasks in production are being replaced by more skilled, technically demanding tasks that generate greater value.

Mikel Rojo of ULMA Packaging is certain that the role of robotics in the packaging industry will continue to grow in importance: “After robots that simply repeat movements, the trend is shifting toward smarter, more flexible, and integrated automation systems.” One of the most important areas is collaborative robotics, which can be used in environments where traditional automation may not be the best solution and which paves the way for more adaptable production lines.

Another key focus: the integration of robotics with image processing systems, quality control, and data analysis. This makes automation smarter: Instead of simply moving products from one point to another, these systems can make decisions, check quality, adapt to different formats, and give customers more control over their processes.

“Investments in end-of-line capabilities show where we believe the market is headed: toward more comprehensive, integrated, and customized automation concepts. Companies need solutions that support seamless production processes,” Rojo summarizes. With the help of intelligent automation, the packaging industry is able to overcome labor-related bottlenecks and create sustainable and future-proof production environments.