Packaging and labeling is a $13.8 billion industry in the U.S., with forecasts predicting significant growth over the next five years (IBISWorld, 2025). One key driver is the rise of ecommerce. With more people skipping trips to the store to order goods online, safe and secure packaging that can withstand the rigors of national and international shipping is a must-have for businesses.
The challenge? Ensuring production lines can keep pace with increased packaging demand. If bagging, filling, capping, stretch wrapping, pallet wrapping, and other machines experience unexpected slowdowns or failures, the result is a ripple effect that negatively impacts packaging quality and quantity.
To address this challenge, businesses need both predictive and preventive maintenance programs. In this piece, we’ll examine the role of regular maintenance in packaging machine repair, address some of the most common performance issues, offer a checklist for maintenance scheduling, and explore the growing role of technology in preventing problems before they start.
Why regular maintenance is critical for industrial packaging machines
Industrial packaging machinery often runs continuously for days, weeks, or months depending on order volumes and consumer demand. The longer a machine runs without maintenance, however, the higher the chance of failure. In some cases, failure indicators are obvious — cycle times may increase, or packaging errors such as improper seals or structural damage may occur.
In other cases, there is no warning. Machines may fail unexpectedly, leading to sudden production line stoppage. Regular maintenance helps address both scenarios and offers operational benefits for companies, including:
- Reduced costs: Maintenance helps prevent breakdowns, which in turn limits the risk of production line downtime and reduces overall costs. Consider a packaging line that handles 1,000 products per hour priced at $10 each. If machinery failure causes one hour of downtime, companies could lose $10,000.
- Enhanced safety: Regular maintenance lowers the risk of injury or accidents. For example, a fluid leak could be a trip hazard, while a gear or belt jam could lead to machinery deformation or fire.
- Increased consistency: Consistent packaging is required for companies to meet compliance standards and prevent product waste. Maintenance helps identify small deviations from packaging specifications.
- Improved efficiency: Dirty, damaged, or worn machine parts are less efficient. Over time, this reduces the total number of products packaged per hour. Regular maintenance compares current operations and target production goals to identify potential bottlenecks.
- Extended lifespan: Packaging machinery has two lifespans: expected and actual. Expected life spans are based on equipment manufacturer testing and documentation. Actual lifespans are linked to production line use. Maintenance brings actual lifespans closer in line with their expected counterparts, in turn lowering the total cost of ownership (TCO).
It’s worth noting that companies need a combination of preventive and predictive maintenance to see the benefits listed above. Preventive maintenance is carried out on set schedules such as daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly, while predictive maintenance uses data analytics to pinpoint necessary maintenance actions before problems occur.
Common issues affecting packaging machine performance
The repetitive nature of packaging processes creates failure risks that increase over time. Common issues and impacts include:
Material jams and blockages
- Causes: Incorrect machinery settings, poor calibration, debris accumulation, and aging components
- Impacts: Production line downtime, compromised packaging, and possible machine damage
Seal or closure failures
- Causes: Incorrect temperature settings, worn sealing components, inconsistent maintenance
- Impacts: Production contamination, product damage, increased rework
Wear and tear of components
- Commonly affected parts: Belts, bearings, motors, blades, rotors, gears
- Impacts: Reduced production efficiency, unexpected machinery failures, and staff injury
Sensor malfunctions
- Causes: Improper calibration, physical damage, heat or pressure damage caused by other components
- Impacts: Operational errors, decreased throughput, inconsistent readings
Inadequate lubrication
- Causes: Irregular relubrication, use of unsuitable lubricant, incorrect temperature or pressure settings
- Impact: Increased friction, accelerated equipment wear, and unexpected failures
Both preventive and predictive maintenance play a role in the early identification of component wear. For example, regular preventive maintenance might include daily checks of lubrication levels and temperature readings, while data-driven predictive maintenance might detect increasing temperature fluctuations that indicate the need for packaging equipment repair.
Maintenance checklist for industrial packaging machines
Complete shutdown and maintenance of any packaging machine is time consuming and resource intensive. In addition, different machine types have different maintenance needs as defined by packaging machine manufacturers. The result? Companies need routine maintenance schedules that align with production goals, capital budgets, and expected machine lifecycles.
The checklist below serves as a foundation for creating tailored machinery maintenance schedules:
Daily
- Inspect machinery visually for damage or obvious blockages
- Check and confirm the proper operation of emergency stops and safety interlocks
- Verify that sensors, displays, and controls are functioning correctly
- Ensure that sealing temperatures and pressures meet standards
- Clean exposed machine surfaces to avoid dust or debris accumulation
Weekly
- Inspect and clean conveyor systems, belts, and rollers
- Check pneumatic and hydraulic lines for leaks or wear
- Test electrical wiring connections for secure attachment and integrity
- Lubricate essential moving parts based on manufacturer recommendations
Monthly
- Thorough inspection of belts, gears, blades, and sealing jaws for wear
- Calibration checks of sensors and controls
- Detailed cleaning of internal machine components
- Verify machine alignment and adjust as necessary
Quarterly
- Complete lubrication service for motors, gearboxes, and bearings
- Conduct vibration analysis to detect abnormal wear or alignment issues
- Schedule preventive maintenance equipment inspections by trained technicians
Leveraging technology for enhanced maintenance
The sooner potential problems are detected, the better for production packaging lines. This is the focus of predictive maintenance technologies, utilizing tools and software to proactively identify potential operational issues.
Common detection methods include vibration analysis and thermal imaging. These methods are underpinned by IoT devices such as predictive maintenance sensors and monitors that are capable of both recording performance anomalies and notifying staff that maintenance is required.
Consider stretch wrap and pallet wrapping machines. Because these devices are often found at the end of production lines, failure of either type could lead to inventory sitting in place rather than departing as scheduled, costing companies time and money. Proactive notification of stretch wrap machine repair or pallet wrapping machine repair needs can help businesses avoid costly delays.
In practice, three components are required to enable predictive maintenance. First, companies need IoT devices that are compatible with current packaging infrastructure. Next, they need analytics platforms that can collect and examine data to pinpoint recurring patterns. Finally, organizations need a single source of truth — such as integrated MES/ERP systems — that act as a centralized repository for maintenance data.
When to consider a professional service
While preventive and predictive packaging machine maintenance is critical for consistent performance, not all companies have the time and resources available to create, manage, and regularly update packaging equipment maintenance plans.
For organizations that have limited internal resources, highly specialized machinery, or need internal staff free to focus on other tasks, it’s worth considering outsourced maintenance solutions.
No matter your packaging machinery mix, ATS can help you build a comprehensive maintenance program. From regulatory compliance to process standardization, technical training, and R360® Machine Health Monitoring, our industrial maintenance solutions help streamline preventive processes, discover proactive insights, and improve overall packaging performance.
Improve packaging consistency with maintenance services from ATS. Let’s talk.
References
McErlaine, B. (2025, April). Packaging & Labeling Services in the US. IBISWorld. Retrieved from https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/industry/packaging-labeling-services/1501/
