Packaging Automation Solutions: How the Carolina Handling and Packsize Partnership Helps Customers

Warehouse automation continues to draw significant attention as companies seek to improve efficiency, increase throughput, and make better use of available labor.

But automation isn’t simply about adding technology. Carolina Handling takes a consultative approach, evaluating existing processes and identifying opportunities for improvement before determining where automation makes sense.

That approach extends all the way to the end of the fulfillment process, including how products are packaged for shipment. Through its partnership with Packsize, Carolina Handling can help customers evaluate packaging operations and determine where automated packaging technology may fit.

Packsize provides automated, right-sized packaging solutions that create custom-fit boxes on demand, helping reduce waste, improve throughput, and support the people doing the work.

“Carolina Handling and Packsize have a great relationship,” said Nick Romyns, Intralogistics Solutions Manager at Carolina Handling. “Our teams have worked well together through sales, training, marketing, and project deployment efforts. The Packsize team has shown us a tremendous amount of support and is quick to assist with any requests we have brought their way.”

Because of their strong relationship, Carolina Handling was among the first partners invited to use Packsize’s new Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia. In September, approximately 30 to 40 Carolina Handling associates, including Sales Leaders, Business Development Managers, Account Managers and National Account Managers, gathered there for a sales meeting and to see firsthand the range of packaging technology Packsize offers.

"It shows a strong level of trust and willingness to collaborate between our companies,” Romyns said.

Carolina Handling associates were invited to Packsize's new Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia in September 

What Should You Evaluate Before Automating a Warehouse Process?

Before determining which technology to implement, Carolina Handling’s approach starts with understanding the operation as a whole.

That means examining existing workflows, identifying bottlenecks, and considering future growth plans. The objective is to understand the process first rather than immediately turning to a piece of automation equipment as the answer.

Once processes are streamlined and repeatable, companies can more effectively assess where automation makes sense and which technologies align with their operational needs.

Potential opportunities for Packsize technology include operations where shipping is a bottleneck, large numbers of operators perform manual packing tasks, significant amounts of corrugated material or filler are used, or packaging and logistics costs are high.

How Does the Carolina Handling and Packsize Partnership Help Customers?

Carolina Handling takes a consultative approach to intralogistics, looking at how technology and processes work together across an operation.

“Our partnership with Packsize not only helps us provide a wide range of robust packaging solutions for our customers, but they also have demonstrated their overall intralogistics knowledge,” Romyns said. “The Packsize team has worked alongside ours to help us collaborate on the broader opportunity we pull them into, and how their machines can create further value through other solutions upstream or downstream.”

That broader view is important because packaging challenges do not necessarily begin or end at the packing station.

Jesse Poole, Partner Sales Director at Packsize, said working with an integrator that can address multiple areas of an operation strengthens what both Carolina Handling and Packsize can offer customers.

“Being able to partner with Carolina Handling not only strengthens the overall solution, but provides the best customer experience,” Poole said.

The process also considers what the customer may need next, not simply the immediate problem.

Jesse Poole, Partner Sales Director at Packsize, speaks at Carolina Handling's Sales Meeting, held inside Packsize's new Experience Center

“We work hand in hand with both the solutions team and sales team to understand the customer’s problems and needs, and also what the customer envisions for the future,” Poole said. “This helps us provide them with the best solution not only for today, but for the future as well.”

Why Is Hands-On Training Important for Intralogistics Solutions?

For Carolina Handling associates, understanding potential solutions firsthand can support better conversations with customers. That was one of the goals of holding the recent sales meeting at Packsize’s Experience Center.

The training Carolina Handling associates received was designed to provide a stronger understanding of when packaging automation may be appropriate, and how it can work alongside other intralogistics solutions

“Seeing the technology in person helps you to better understand what applications it can bring the most value to, and the wide range of benefits it can bring to our customers,” Romyns said.

What Can Customers Expect at Packsize’s Experience Center?

Packsize’s new Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia gives customers and partners an opportunity to experience right-sized packaging systems in a working environment, including live packaging demonstrations and PackNet software.

One of the most useful capabilities for Carolina Handling customers is the opportunity to bring their own products to the Experience Center. Visitors can test their products or use samples and evaluate different order profiles as they move through the packaging process.

“Seeing the technology in person is great, but being able to demo specific products unique to your organization is so powerful,” Romyns said. “It can really help you understand how the machines will interact with your product and help to generate ideas on how to improve your overall packaging operations.”

“Testing your product can allow you to trial edge case products that may have seemed out of scope for this type of technology due to their unique dimensions or weights,” Romyns said. “It can help give you peace of mind about what will work, and what may not, before ever having to purchase a machine.”

Depending on a customer’s goals, conversations at the Experience Center may address packaging workflow optimization, labor efficiency, shipping and material savings, sustainability initiatives and compliance, systems integration, and future growth.

“The Atlanta Experience Center gives Carolina Handling customers the ability to see their products be packaged in real time and feel confident in the technology long before it goes into their own operations,” Romyns said.

The location of Packsize’s Atlanta Experience Center provides a practical advantage for Carolina Handling associates and customers across the Southeast. Carolina Handling has a 5-state footprint.

“Having the Packsize facility in Atlanta is a huge advantage for Carolina Handling and our customers,” Romyns said. “It helps to eliminate potential travel barriers and time commitments.”

“I am really excited about the Experience Center being located in Carolina Handling’s backyard,” Poole said. “It gives them the opportunity to use it for customer visits, Carolina Handling meetings, and a place to try out new ideas using on-demand packaging. I want the Experience Center to be open to Carolina Handling as if it were their own Experience Center.”

Romyns sees the Atlanta facility complementing Carolina Handling’s own Customer Experience Center in Easley, South Carolina.

“I hope the new Packsize facility in Atlanta becomes an extension of our Customer Experience Center in South Carolina, and that we are taking advantage of bringing our customers and our associates there often,” Romyns said. “It is a great opportunity to showcase Carolina Handling’s strategic partnerships as an integrator, and how we can work hand in hand with our partners to support all of our customers’ intralogistics needs.”

Why Does Partnership Matter When Evaluating Automation?

Automation should not start with asking which machine to buy. It should start with understanding the problem that needs to be solved. At Carolina Handling, that means evaluating the operation, looking beyond an isolated process, and working with customers and technology partners to determine the best approach.

The Packsize partnership adds another resource to that process by giving customers a place to evaluate packaging technology, test their own products, and explore how packaging can connect with other areas of the fulfillment operation before technology reaches their facility.

“The Experience Center demonstrates what’s possible when Packsize and Carolina Handling work together to understand the customer's business and identify new opportunities to improve packaging and fulfillment operations,” Poole said. “Also that we are looking for a partner not just a customer.”

Considering packaging automation? Talk with a Carolina Handling expert about your operation and where opportunities for optimization may exist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a company do before investing in warehouse automation?

Short answer: Carolina Handling recommends an “optimize before you automate” approach. That includes evaluating existing workflows, identifying bottlenecks and making processes streamlined and repeatable before introducing automation technology.

What is the Carolina Handling and Packsize partnership?

Short answer: Carolina Handling works with Packsize to help customers evaluate packaging automation as part of their broader intralogistics operations. The teams collaborate across sales, training, marketing, project deployment, and ongoing care after deployment.

What types of problems can packaging automation help address?

Short answer: Potential opportunities can include shipping bottlenecks, large numbers of operators performing packing work, significant use or expense associated with corrugated material and filler, and high packaging and logistics costs.

Can Carolina Handling customers test their own products at Packsize’s Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia?

Short answer: Yes. Packsize allows visitors to bring their own products or use samples to see how they move through the packaging process and evaluate different order profiles.

Why should a company test products before investing in packaging automation?

Short answer: Testing can help customers understand how a potential solution will interact with their actual products. It also can help evaluate products with unusual dimensions or weights and provide a clearer understanding of what may or may not work before purchasing a machine.