The year is drawing to a close and once again many companies are finding themselves with surplus budgets that must be allocated before year end. Rather than spending for the sake of it, businesses should consider investing in high-impact packaging equipment that can deliver ongoing returns for years to come.
If you have leftover budget to use, think big but practical like pallet wrappers, case erectors, conveyors and mobile packing stations – all great tools for improving workflows. A pallet wrap machine, for example, can cut wrapping time dramatically. Where a person might take roughly three minutes to wrap a pallet by hand, a machine can do the job in sixty seconds or less without pausing or breaks. That translates to 40-47% time savings on wrapping tasks, better pallet stability and fewer damaged goods in transit. Staff are also freed up for higher value work. The result is less downtime, lower return rates and a cleaner audit trail when labels are easier to read through clear, consistent wrap.
Case erectors can scale productivity further. An average packer might form three boxes per minute; a standard case erector does ten and Kite’s machine can assemble up to twelve in the same timeframe. With this in mind, building 1,440 boxes by hand would take a full eight-hour shift, but replaced with Kite’s case erector, the time is cut down drastically to two hours. As seen here, automation can improve production output by 50-75% and has been shown to halve or better labour costs while doubling production speed in many operations. A one-off capital investment spend like this can keep paying back month after month as throughput increases and labour dependency falls, especially useful during periods of labour shortages.
Beyond speed, automation also brings sustainability wins to the table. It leads to more efficient use of packing materials, fewer errors and less waste. On-demand case erection stops empty boxes taking up valuable racking space, while automated wrapping reduces overuse of film and improves pallet integrity in transit. Handy given the Plastic Packaging Tax rise to £223.69 per tonne from April 2025 and the EPR waste disposal fees introduced in October 2025, which are forcing many to rethink their packaging practices.
Conveyors can help speed up the transfer of goods from inbound to picking, packing and outbound without unnecessary handling. They reduce manual movement, lower error rates in sorting and shipping, and make your packing area more predictable, which in turn raises customer satisfaction. Incorporating mobile packing stations into your warehouse lets you redistribute labour where demand is highest without reconfiguring the whole line. Combined, these systems reduce wasted floor space and let you design layouts that prioritise flow over stored inventory.
However, businesses shouldn’t fall into the trap of throwing budget at machines without a strategic plan – it’s pointless. Start with a clear assessment of your current bottlenecks: is it picking, packing, slow case assembly, unstable pallets causing returns, or something else completely? Then define the ROI and KPIs you will measure, whether that’s throughput, labour hours saved, material use, or error rates. Consider scalability and modularity in line with seasonal peaks and troughs. For example, the right conveyor can be extended, a case erector can be adjusted for a new SKU mix, and mobile stations can be redeployed depending on seasonal patterns.
Any new systems you invest in must integrate into your existing warehouse set up, otherwise you run the risk of trading one bottleneck for another. Managing the change that arises from this is also important. As employees shift from repetitive manual tasks to high-value ones, training and a skills uplift will be needed so teams can adjust to new workflows. Layout and space planning matters too as some systems need a particular footprint or access for maintenance.
At Kite we pair products with engineering insight. Our R&D team and field engineers work with customers to tailor systems to real-world constraints: matching load capacities, selecting the right conveyor profile, or specifying pallet wrappers that balance speed with film economy. We focus on whole-process gains rather than isolated headline numbers.
If you have left over year end capital, think about where that money will make a lasting difference. Spend with a plan, monitor rigorously, and you’ll have bought capacity, resilience and time back for your business. For expert advice, contact Kite Packaging to explore how strategic equipment upgrades can deliver lasting gains for your business.
Kite Packaging
t: 02476 420065
e: enquiries@kitepackaging.co.uk
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