Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced that IMA E-COMMERCE is standardizing on a digitalized control and automation architecture from Rockwell Automation across its entire automated e-commerce packaging machine portfolio.
A division of the IMA Group, IMA E-COMMERCE offers a range of advanced automated packing stations, case formers and case closers called E-CO Flex for the e-fulfillment, intralogistics and third-party logistics (3PL) sectors.
“Fulfillment applications present unique challenges to machine builders as they are tasked with handling a wider variety of product counts and formats using single machines and with minimal downtime between batches,” said Evan Kaiser, vice president, global OEMs, Rockwell Automation. “This level of agility and machine uptime can only be achieved with a highly flexible and tightly integrated digitalized automation infrastructure.”
By standardizing on a single control platform, automation deployment and software programing are significantly streamlined through code/component reuse and product familiarity. IMA E-COMMERCE also uses its own library of objects – the building blocks for the automation programing – to more easily and quickly create packaging machine concepts closely tailored to its customers’ precise needs.
Initially developed to address the increased demand in the United States for e-commerce during the pandemic, the range of machines and their geographical deployment have grown significantly as e-commerce and the resulting need for packaging automation have become more commonplace globally.
“In addition to the ease and speed of programing, Rockwell Automation’s strength in the U.S. market and its standing in the global e-commerce and logistics sectors makes it an ideal technology supplier to support our future aspirations,” said Simone Capponcelli, division coordinator at IMA E-COMMERCE. “Its technology also serves as a strong digital foundation for future developments as we further evolve our packaging technology in line with changing market demands.”
The announcement is another chapter in the strong collaboration between Rockwell Automation and IMA. Continuing its digital innovation, IMA is the first company to adopt the Rockwell Automation RapidLaunch Automotive Solution.
