🔬 From Ryan Wong's Engineering Notebook
Automation Memo
"A startup coffee brand was employing three full-time workers just to hand-apply sticker labels and stamp roast dates onto 2,000 bags a day. It was incredibly slow, and dates frequently smudged. We automated their line by mounting a TIJ coder on a small modular conveyor and installing an inline label applicator. Within one shift, they went from 250 bags/hour to over 1,500 bags/hour. A single operator now manages the entire line, and the other two employees were reassigned to sales. The capital investment was recovered in exactly 42 days. If you are doing more than 1,000 units daily, manual lines are actively costing you growth."