The Challenge

A cosmetics contract manufacturer near Graz, Austria was labeling approximately 2,000 flat cartons per day for regional retail customers. Labels with ingredients, batch, and expiry data were applied manually at two separate labeling tables using hand dispensers.

The manual process required two full-time operators per shift and frequently produced crooked or bubbled labels. Around 4% of cartons needed rework due to misaligned labels, causing overtime in busy weeks and pulling operators away from upstream filling and packing tasks.

Manual Process

Operators picked cartons from a stack, peeled labels from a roll, aligned them by eye, and smoothed them by hand. Output depended heavily on operator focus and fatigue, especially toward the end of the shift.

Before Automation:

• Daily volume: 2,000 units/day
• Cycle time per unit: 30 seconds/unit (including handling and visual check)
• Total daily time: 2,000 × 30 s = 60,000 s ≈ 1,000 minutes (≈ 16.7 hours/day)
  Covered by 2 operators over one 8-hour shift with minor overtime
• Labor cost: 16.7 hours × €25/hour ≈ €417/day
• Rework/issues: 4% of units (≈ 80 cartons/day) requiring relabeling, adding about 1 hour/day of extra labor

Automated Solution

The company installed one Tabletop Auto Labeling Machine T160LB at the end of the cartoning step, replacing the two manual labeling stations. Cartons are now fed in a steady stream, and the T160LB applies labels with ±1 mm accuracy.

After Installing Tabletop Auto Labeling Machine T160LB:

• Machine operates at 60% of maximum capacity for reliability
  80 pcs/min × 60% = 48 pcs/min effective speed
• New cycle time: 1,000 units/hour ÷ 2,000 units = 3.6 seconds/unit equivalent at current volume
• Total daily time: 2,000 ÷ 48 ≈ 41.7 minutes of pure machine time
  Including loading/unloading and checks: about 3 hours/day of operator attendance
• Labor cost: 3 hours × €25/hour = €75/day (one operator part-time on labeling, rest on other tasks)
• Quality improvement: crooked-label rework reduced from 4% to 0.5% (≈ 10 cartons/day), eliminating about 45 minutes/day of rework

ROI Calculation

Investment:
Machine price: €2,899
Daily labor cost before: ≈ €417/day
Daily labor cost after: €75/day
Daily savings: €417 − €75 = €342/day (labor only)
Monthly savings (22 working days): €342 × 22 = €7,524/month
Payback period: €2,899 ÷ €342 ≈ 8.5 working days (under 2 weeks)

Even if we conservatively assume some overlap of tasks and allocate only €120/day as attributable savings to labeling (freeing one operator for most of the shift), the payback remains very fast:
Daily savings (conservative): €120/day
Monthly savings (22 days): €120 × 22 = €2,640/month
Payback period (conservative): €2,899 ÷ €120 ≈ 24 working days (about 1.9 months)

Conclusion

By replacing two manual labeling stations with the compact T160LB tabletop auto labeler, the manufacturer cut labeling labor from roughly 16.7 hours/day to about 3 hours/day of operator attendance. Rework from crooked labels dropped from 4% to 0.5%, while operators were reassigned to higher-value upstream packaging tasks.

“The T160LB allowed us to go from two full-time labelers to less than 3 hours of labeling supervision per day, saving around €120 in labor every shift. Our rework fell from 4% to under 1%, and we recovered the €2,899 investment in under two months.” — Markus H., Production Manager, Graz Cosmetics GmbH / Austria