Packaging automation projects rarely fail because someone bought the wrong machine. They fail at the joins: between two machines that were specified separately, between the supplier who sold it and whoever has to support it, and between what was quoted and what the line actually needed to work.
That makes the choice of partner more consequential than the choice of equipment, and harder to assess, because every supplier says the same things about themselves. What follows is a set of questions with verifiable answers, rather than qualities to look for.
Why the partner matters more than the machine
Most packaging equipment on the market works. Fillers fill, cartoners form cartons, wrappers wrap. Where projects come apart is in how the machines connect to each other and to what was already there: infeed rates that do not match, buffering that was never sized, a control system that cannot tell the upstream machine to slow down, product that behaves differently at line speed than it did in a demonstration.
None of that appears on a datasheet. It comes from whoever takes responsibility for the line as a whole, which is why the useful question is not “is this a good machine” but “who owns the result”.
The questions worth asking, and what a good answer looks like
Who is responsible for the completed line?
When a line is built from machines by different manufacturers, someone has to take responsibility for the conformity and safety of the finished installation rather than the individual units. Establish in writing who that is, before order rather than at handover, along with who carries out the risk assessment covering the interfaces between machines.
It is also worth asking how a supplier is preparing for Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, the new EU Machinery Regulation, which replaces the current Machinery Directive from 20 January 2027. A partner engaged with that transition will answer readily; one that has not heard of it is telling you something.
What happens in year three?
Ask about spare parts availability and lead times, how long the manufacturer commits to supporting the model, and what the plan is when a component becomes obsolete. Control system obsolescence is the one that catches people out: a line can be mechanically sound and effectively unmaintainable because a drive or PLC is no longer available.
Who owns the control code?
If the PLC or HMI programme was written for your line, establish whether you receive the source, whether it is documented, and whether another engineer could work on it. This is one of the sharpest divisions between suppliers and it very rarely comes up until something needs changing and the original programmer is unavailable. Ask specifically about PLC programming and what is handed over with it.
What does support actually mean?
“Full after-sales support” means nothing on its own. Ask for response times, whether engineers are based locally or travel from abroad, whether remote diagnostics are available and what they can resolve without a site visit, and what a call-out costs outside a contract. Then ask for a reference from a customer who has had a breakdown, not one who has had a smooth installation.
How will it be tested before it arrives?
Ask whether there is a factory acceptance test on your own product before shipping, what the site acceptance criteria are, and what happens if the line does not achieve its rate at commissioning. A supplier confident in the specification will have clear answers; vagueness here is the most reliable warning sign there is.
What will they tell you not to do?
This is the most useful test in the list. Invite a prospective partner to walk the line and say what they would not automate, or what they would sequence differently. A supplier who finds nothing to push back on is selling equipment. One who tells you the third project on your list should be the first is thinking about your operation.
What to have ready before you talk to anyone
Better inputs produce better proposals and make suppliers directly comparable. Before the first conversation, gather product dimensions and weights across the range, throughput at peak rather than average, the number of SKUs and how often changeovers happen, your available floor space and services, and what the operation is required to do that it currently cannot.
Where the constraint itself is unclear, that is worth resolving first. Our guide to building an automation business case covers how to establish where the cost actually sits before any equipment is discussed.
Comparing quotations that are not comparable
The most common difficulty at this stage is that two quotations for apparently the same thing differ by a wide margin, because they include different things. Before comparing figures, check each one for the same list: integration and controls, safety assessment and guarding, any conveyor and buffering between machines, installation, commissioning, operator training, documentation, spares, and the cost of production time lost during installation.
A cheaper quotation that excludes integration is not cheaper. It has moved that work to you, or to a second supplier who will price it later with less leverage.
Warning signs
- A single machine recommended without anyone having looked at the line around it
- Evasiveness about response times, or an inability to name where engineers are based
- Pressure to commit before you have seen the equipment running or spoken to a reference
- A quotation with no line items for integration, commissioning or training
- No answer on what is handed over at the end: drawings, control code, documentation, spares list
- Agreement with everything you propose
Reducing the risk before you commit
Two things de-risk a packaging project more than any amount of due diligence on the supplier.
The first is testing the part nobody is certain about. Where the question is whether a product can be gripped, sealed, indexed or handled reliably, a proof of concept on your actual product answers it before capital is committed.
The second is testing the numbers. Where the question is throughput, buffering or layout, simulation models the line against your real production data and shows where it will queue. Both are far cheaper than discovering the answer at commissioning.
Common questions
How long does a packaging automation project take?
It varies with scope, but the phases are consistent: consultation and specification, design, manufacture, installation, commissioning and handover. Manufacturing lead time is usually the longest single element and the one least within anyone’s control, which is why it is worth establishing early rather than assuming.
Should we automate the whole line at once?
Usually not. Phasing lets you prove the approach, spread the capital and learn before the larger commitments. The important part is that the phases are designed as one line from the start, so that stage two does not require undoing stage one. A partner should be able to show you that sequence.
What ongoing costs should we expect?
Consumables such as film and materials, spare and wear parts, planned maintenance, and any support or remote monitoring agreement. Ask for these as a yearly figure during evaluation, since they run for the life of the equipment and rarely appear in the comparison at purchase.
How do we tell whether our current supplier is supporting us properly?
Look at response times against what was agreed, whether faults recur, whether you can obtain parts without difficulty, and whether anyone has proactively suggested an improvement since installation. A supplier who has not been in touch since commissioning is not necessarily a problem, but it is worth knowing whether that is by design.
Where LVP Automation fits
LVP Automation designs, supplies, installs and supports packaging and end-of-line systems for manufacturers and logistics operations across Ireland, including cartoning machines, tray sealers, conveyors and palletising, with design, controls, installation and ongoing support handled by one team. Our full range of automation services covers the work either side of the equipment itself.
Tell us what your line has to do and we will tell you what it takes, including the parts we would not recommend automating.
