What We Learned at Interpack 2026 About the Future of Packaging Automation

Interpack 2026 officially came to an end, but many of the conversations happening across the exhibition halls are likely to shape the packaging industry for the next several years.

This year, one thing felt especially clear: packaging automation is no longer just about running faster machines.

More food manufacturers are now focusing on how to improve overall production efficiency, reduce labor dependency, stabilize output, and connect the entire packaging workflow together.

Compared with previous years, discussions around end-of-line automation, secondary packaging systems, robotic palletizing, and integrated packaging lines became much more visible across the show.

At Smart Weigh, we had the chance to meet food manufacturers, packaging engineers, and factory owners from Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America. While every project was different, many of the pain points customers mentioned were surprisingly similar.

Most factories are no longer simply asking, "How fast is the machine?" Instead, they are asking:

• How many operators can we reduce?
• Can the line run more continuously?
• How do we avoid bottlenecks after bagging?
• How can we prepare for future expansion?
• Can one supplier integrate the full packaging line?

That shift says a lot about where the industry is heading.

Automation Is Expanding Beyond Primary Packaging

A few years ago, many automation discussions focused mainly on primary packaging equipment such as multihead weighers, VFFS machines, premade pouch systems, filling accuracy, and packaging speed.

Those topics are still important, of course. But at Interpack 2026, we noticed that more manufacturers were paying attention to what happens after the bag is finished.

That includes product inspection, bag handling, secondary packaging, case packing, palletizing, and warehouse-ready output.

In many factories today, the primary packaging area is already highly automated. A modern twin VFFS system can easily produce over 120–140 bags per minute. Some high-speed snack lines run even faster.

But once those finished bags leave the packaging machine, many factories still rely heavily on operators to manually collect products, arrange bags into cartons, and stack cases onto pallets.

That's where the bottleneck often starts.

Several customers we spoke with mentioned similar situations: the upstream packaging machines were fast, but manual secondary packing could no longer keep up consistently. Operators became overloaded during peak production hours, cartons accumulated at the end of conveyors, and line stoppages became more frequent.

This is one reason why secondary packaging automation received so much attention during the exhibition.

End-of-Line Automation Is Becoming a Bigger Investment Priority

One of the strongest trends we observed at Interpack 2026 was the growing focus on end-of-line automation.

More manufacturers are now looking beyond standalone equipment and thinking about the entire production flow as one connected system.

Instead of buying separate machines one by one, customers increasingly want integrated solutions that combine weighing, bagging, inspection, secondary packaging, and palletizing into one coordinated packaging line.

Weighing
→ Bagging
→ Inspection
→ Secondary Packaging
→ Palletizing

This trend was especially obvious among medium-to-large food manufacturers dealing with labor shortages, higher production targets, and increasing pressure to improve operational efficiency.

Labor reduction became one of the biggest topics across many discussions.

In Europe especially, labor costs and operator availability continue to create pressure for manufacturers. Several customers mentioned that hiring and retaining packaging line workers has become more difficult than before.

As a result, investments in automation are now often driven by long-term operational stability rather than simply machine speed.

Many factories are now prioritizing:

• fewer operators
• lower manual handling
• more stable production flow
• reduced downtime
• easier shift management
• consistent packaging quality

That's also why robotic palletizing systems attracted so much attention this year.

Secondary Packaging Is No Longer Just "Putting Bags Into Boxes"

One interesting thing we noticed is that secondary packaging is evolving from a simple downstream task into a much more important part of the entire packaging system.

A few years ago, many factories viewed case packing as a relatively simple process. Today, that's changing quickly.

Modern food production lines now involve multiple bag formats, retail-ready packaging, higher packaging speeds, mixed SKU production, and stricter food safety standards.

As production becomes more complex, secondary packaging systems also need to become smarter and more flexible.

At Interpack 2026, we saw increasing interest in automatic bag arranging systems, robotic case packing, smart conveying systems, flexible cartoning solutions, and integrated inspection systems.

Especially for snack foods, frozen foods, coffee, and pet food, manufacturers are looking for packaging lines that can handle both speed and flexibility at the same time.

For example, snack manufacturers running twin VFFS systems are now looking for automated secondary packaging solutions that can keep pace with high-speed bag output while maintaining stable carton loading.

Frozen food manufacturers are more concerned about stable bag handling in cold and wet environments, where manual operations can become inconsistent.

Coffee brands are focusing more on premium retail presentation and cleaner carton arrangement for flat-bottom and quad bags.

Pet food manufacturers, meanwhile, are paying closer attention to flexible changeovers because many factories now run multiple SKUs on the same production line.

These operational realities are pushing secondary packaging automation forward much faster than before.

Flexibility Is Becoming Just as Important as Speed

Another trend we noticed at the exhibition was the increasing demand for flexible automation systems.

Many manufacturers no longer produce only one product or one bag format.

Factories today often need to handle multiple product sizes, seasonal packaging, different pouch styles, retail-ready cartons, and changing production plans.

Because of this, packaging systems must be designed with future flexibility in mind.

Customers showed much more interest in modular automation design, scalable production layouts, expandable end-of-line systems, and quick product changeovers.

Instead of replacing entire lines every few years, manufacturers want systems that can grow together with production needs.

This is becoming especially important for food brands planning long-term automation upgrades.

Customers Are Looking for Packaging Partners, Not Just Machine Suppliers

Another noticeable change at Interpack 2026 was the way customers approached equipment discussions.

Many conversations were no longer focused only on individual machine specifications.

Instead, manufacturers wanted to discuss full production workflows, line integration, future automation planning, factory layout optimization, and long-term production goals.

In other words, customers are increasingly looking for packaging partners who understand complete production systems — not simply suppliers selling standalone machines.

At Smart Weigh, many discussions during the exhibition focused on how to combine weighing systems, VFFS packaging, inspection equipment, secondary packaging, and robotic palletizing into one coordinated automation solution.

This shift toward turnkey automation projects is becoming more obvious across the industry.

Looking Ahead After Interpack 2026

After spending several days at the exhibition and speaking with manufacturers from different markets, one thing feels very clear: packaging automation is continuing to move toward full system integration.

The future is not only about faster machines.

It's about building packaging lines that are more connected, more flexible, less dependent on labor, easier to scale, and more stable over long production runs.

End-of-line automation, secondary packaging systems, and robotic palletizing will likely become even more important over the next few years as manufacturers continue searching for ways to improve efficiency and reduce operational pressure.

Interpack 2026 showed that the industry is moving steadily in that direction.

And for many food manufacturers, the question is no longer whether to automate more of the packaging line — but how quickly they can do it while keeping production stable and competitive.