Medline Automates Packaging for Throughput and Sustainability Gains: Healthcare Packaging

How is end-of-line automation reshaping high-volume medical product distribution?

Medline Industries partnered with Ranpak Holdings Corp. to deploy the Cut'it! EVO right-sizing system and Form'it! automated case erector at its distribution operations. 

The shift eliminated a manual pack-out bottleneck downstream of Medline's AutoStore goods-to-person picking system, with workers now picking directly into automatically formed trays that are lidded and sealed further down the line. 

This is an AI-generated episode. Read the full featured article on Healthcare Packaging.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Through the Line, the podcast exploring innovations and information across the packaging and processing landscape. From topics impacting consumer packaged goods in healthcare packaging to the latest technologies in food processing operations.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hi, Liz Cunio here, editor-in-chief of healthcare packaging. What follows is an AI-generated podcast from a recent case study on our site about how Medline integrated automated packaging technology from Rampac to resolve significant logistics delays. Learn how this technology significantly reduced material waste for the company.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

It's a huge shift.

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Okay, let's unpack this because we see a chronic problem across the processing industry right now. Facilities are pouring like massive capital into upstream automation, but but they are treating the end-of-line packaging as a total afterthought.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Oh, absolutely. It gets completely overlooked.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

Yeah. So if you are listening to this, you're likely managing complex flows and trying to synchronize those lightning fast-picking algorithms with the physical reality of getting a corrugated box onto a truck. Right. So this deep dive is your masterclass in tearing down that specific wall.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

And to dissect how to actually fix it, we are looking at Medline. They are a massive healthcare supply chain provider.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Like they handle over 300,000 products for hospitals, nursing homes, and physician offices.

SPEAKER_03 1:45

Aaron Ross Powell That's just a crazy amount of SCO use.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

It really is. And their vice president of engineering, Daniel Schwartz, he operates with this very clear mandate, which is just make healthcare run better. So to hit their throughput targets, Medline invested heavily in an auto-store ASRS system.

SPEAKER_03 1:59

The robotic storage.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Exactly. And the robotics were doing what robotics do best, right? Retrieving inventory at just blinding speeds.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah, those systems are incredibly fast.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

But the flow design had this critical flaw. They were picking items into internal warehouse totes and then routing those totes to a manual packing area to be transferred into shipping quotons.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

Oh, I see where this is going.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah. The high-speed robotics essentially just flooded the manual pack stations. The entire system stalled right at the tape dispensers.

SPEAKER_03 2:30

I have to pause you right there, because this is the paradox I see constantly, and it honestly drives me crazy. When a facility signs a massive CapEx check for a dense ASRS, the entire justification is end-to-end throughput, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Right. That's the whole pitch.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

So how does an operation managing 300,000 SKUs completely neglect the most crucial physical step? I mean, we optimize the robotic arm down to the millisecond, but we just accept that a human being wrestling with a flat corrugated blank is going to dictate our final output.

SPEAKER_02 3:00

What's fascinating here is how Brian Boatner, he's the chief revenue officer at Rampac, how he identifies the root cause of that oversight.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Okay, what does he call it?

SPEAKER_02 3:09

He calls it the pocket of efficiency trap. When engineers design a facility upgrade, they uh they look at the data, they see that manual picking is the slowest metric, and they just throw capital at that specific node. Right.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

They fix the most obvious squeaky wheel.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Exactly. They create this highly optimized isolated pocket. But in a continuous flow environment, an isolated pocket of efficiency is structurally destructive.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Wow. Structurally destructive. That's a strong way to put it.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

It is, but it's true because if your downstream processes cannot absorb the velocity of your upstream automation, you haven't actually improved throughput.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

You've just moved your staging area.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Aaron Powell Yes, you just moved the traffic jam. Efficiency in picking literally strangles a warehouse if it crashes into a manual packo.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

So Bohner's core philosophy is that system-wide integration is really the only way a multimillion dollar automation project survives.

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Aaron Powell So the bottleneck isn't just like a nuisance, it actively degrades the ROI of the whole ASRS.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

So the only logical response is to fundamentally blow up the existing line flow, right? And synchronize the packo to match the picking speed.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

That's exactly what they had to do.

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Okay, so let's look at the actual hardware Medline used to do that. They brought in two specific RAM pack systems to dissolve this traffic jam.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Right, two key machines.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

Yeah. The first is an automated case erector called the form it. And the second is this advanced right-sizing system called the Cut It EVO.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

And the critical shift here wasn't just, you know, replacing a human with a machine. They completely eliminated the secondary touch point.

SPEAKER_03 4:45

Okay, explain that. What do you mean by secondary touch point?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Well, the elimination of that secondary touch point is where the actual operational leap happens. So in their legacy system, the warehouse management system routed a tote to a packer. Right. The packer grabbed an empty box, transferred the items from the tote to the box, added the void fill, taped it, and pushed it down the line.

SPEAKER_03 5:06

A lot of physical handling.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Exactly. But Medline completely changed the physics of the process. For their less than case items, so things like syringes, sterile gloves, individual personal care products, they stopped using internal warehouse totes entirely.

SPEAKER_03 5:21

Wait, entirely? So what do they pick into?

SPEAKER_02 5:23

The format machine dynamically erects a corrugated tray, and the picker places the items directly into that tray.

SPEAKER_03 5:30

Oh wow. So the shipping carton itself is the picking container.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Exactly. That tray then travels downstream to the cut it EVO for completion.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

That's brilliant.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Yeah. By simply removing the act of transferring product from a tote to a box, this line now easily processes over 10,000 cartons per day.

SPEAKER_03 5:49

Let's break down the mechanics of that cut it EVO because I mean right sizing a box on the fly sounds like marketing jargon until you actually understand the physical mechanism.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

It really does sound like magic until you see it.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

Right. Think of it like uh having a master tailor on a high-speed assembly line instantly cutting a bespoke suit for every single order that passes by.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

That's a great way to visualize it.

SPEAKER_03 6:10

Yeah. So as the tray rolls under the EVO, it doesn't just guess the height, it uses advanced laser scanning to map the absolute highest peak of the product grouping inside that specific tray.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Right. It creates a 3D topographic map, basically.

SPEAKER_03 6:24

Exactly. So whether it is a tall bottle of saline or, you know, a flat pack of bandages, the machine maps the summit. Okay. Then without stopping the line, it physically scores the inside of the corrugated cardboard at that precise millimeter mark, folds the flaps down over the items, and glues a secure lid right on top.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

The engineering behind that scoring process is just remarkable.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

It is.

SPEAKER_02 6:49

Because it happens dynamically, carton by carton, without crushing the fragile medical supplies resting just underneath.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Which is pretty crucial when you're dealing with syringes and glass vials.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Oh, totally. And the daily reality for the facility completely shifts because you extract human spatial guesswork entirely from the packet. Right. Previously, a worker staring at a pile of, say, 15 random items in a tote had to make this split-second geometric calculation.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Which, let's be honest, we usually get wrong.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Exactly. They would inevitably grab a box that was three sizes too big just to ensure everything fit without having to start over.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, because nobody wants to repack a box on a fast-moving line.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Right. And that caution requires them to stuff the remaining void with air pillows so the items don't shift and shatter in transit.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Ah, all that plastic waste.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Exactly. But the cut at EVO removes the human calculation entirely. The system calculates the volume, scores the perimeter, and locks the items in place under the lid.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

So you get absolute consistency.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Yes, on every single package, regardless of the permutation of 300,000 possible SKUs inside.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Okay, here's where it gets really interesting. Think about the brilliant irony of how Medline restructured their inventory to make this work.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

The box sizes.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Yes. Before this implementation, Medline was managing 14 different box sizes to accommodate their diverse product range.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

That's a lot of cardboard to keep track of.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

Right. So that means storing pallets for 14 different SKUs of cardboard, forecasting supply chains for 14 items, and eating up massive amounts of warehouse square footage.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Yeah, that's a nightmare for procurement.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

But with Rampac, they dropped from 14 different box sizes down to just four base tray sizes.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Four? That's incredible.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Right. By restricting their inbound materials to fewer initial options, they somehow created a system that outputs infinitely more customized sizes.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

It's so counterintuitive, but it works.

SPEAKER_03 8:43

Yeah. They traded a bloated, rigid inventory of boxes for a lean, highly dynamic set of variables.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

If we connect this to the bigger picture, this is a masterclass in true supply chain sustainability.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

How so?

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Well, the industry often treats environmental initiatives as like a branding exercise, right?

SPEAKER_03 9:01

Yeah, switching to recycle paper or printing a little green leaf on the carton.

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Exactly. But true sustainability in a modern distribution center is a direct mathematical byproduct of software-driven volume optimization.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

Aaron Powell Okay, break that down for me.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

When you eliminate the void space inside a box, the carton itself becomes the restraint.

SPEAKER_03 9:20

Oh, because the lid is pressed right against the product.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Right. So Medline completely eradicated air pillows from this workflow.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

Yeah, that is a massive volume of single-use plastic permanently removed from their waste stream and their procurement budget.

SPEAKER_03 9:34

And the material efficiency cascades right out the dock doors, too.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

When we talk about sustainability, we are really talking about cubicle efficiency. Every logistics professional knows you cannot afford to ship air.

SPEAKER_02 9:46

Because FedEx and UPS charge by dimensional weight.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Exactly. And Brian Boatner pointed out that right-sizing packaging dynamically reduces the overall shipped volume by 30 to 40%.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

That is a huge margin.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

It is. And Daniel Schwartz confirmed this is exactly what Medline experienced. Wow. A 40% reduction in shipped volume mathematically translates to fewer FedEx trailers backing up to their facility. Right. You are solving at picking bottleneck on the floor and simultaneously slashing your downstream freight spend and your emissions.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

It really highlights the compounding value of a holistic systems approach.

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

But, you know, identifying that value on a spreadsheet is very different from actually executing it on a live floor.

SPEAKER_03 10:30

Oh, for sure. The real world is messy.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Exactly. We need to look at the friction of integration. Because you can buy the most sophisticated laser-scoring case erectors on the market, but integrating a new high-speed automated rhythm into a living, breathing workforce.

SPEAKER_03 10:47

Aaron Powell While running legacy warehouse management software?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Right. That is where these projects usually fracture. Schwartz was very candid that integration was their single biggest hurdle.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Aaron Powell I am looking at this from the perspective of the IT and operations managers. I mean, I imagine the software handshake was an absolute nightmare at first.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Oh, without a doubt.

SPEAKER_03 11:06

You have an auto store system dropping orders, a WMS trying to orchestrate the flow, and brand new packaging hardware demanding precise data to form the right tray at the exact right millisecond.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Yeah, the timing has to be flawless.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Aaron Powell Did they just try to like flip a switch on a Monday morning and pray the APIs talk to each other?

SPEAKER_02 11:24

No, no. They avoided the whole big bang integration disaster by focusing on very granular incremental workflow improvements.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

Aaron Powell Okay, that's smart. Give me an example.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Well, Schwartz pointed to a very specific operational win, which was automating the barcode printing directly onto the newly formed trays.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

Okay. That sounds kind of trivial though, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Aaron Powell It sounds trivial, but consider the floor logic, right? In a standard setup, a worker forms a box, prints an LPN, a license plate number label, and manually applies it to match the order logic.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Right, a lot of scanning and matching.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Exactly. But by having the WMS talk directly to the format machine, the machine erects the tray and preprints the barcode right onto the corrugated material before the picker even touches it.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Oh wow. So the WMS already knows exactly which tray belongs to which auto store pick.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Yes. This removed the scan and match cognitive load completely from the floor staff.

SPEAKER_03 12:20

That is a huge relief for the workers.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

It really is. When you are managing change with a workforce that is suddenly interacting with heavy robotics instead of tape guns, removing cognitive friction is the only way to build trust in the new system.

SPEAKER_03 12:33

Aaron Powell So what does this all mean for the human element?

SPEAKER_02 12:35

That's the big question.

SPEAKER_03 12:37

Because there is a dominant, almost reflex-level narrative in our industry that automation always equals lost jobs.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Right. People hear robots and think layoffs.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Exactly. The assumption is that the day the Rampek machines roll onto the floor, you were handing out pink slips to your packout team. But but Medline directly counters that, right?

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Trevor Burrus, they do. They automated the manual packout, but they did not eliminate roles.

SPEAKER_03 13:02

That's amazing. How do they justify that?

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Aaron Powell Well, because they were scaling their operations and experiencing continuous growth, their manual labor was simply redeployed to other higher value nodes within the facility.

SPEAKER_03 13:15

Aaron Powell So they needed those people elsewhere.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Exactly. The labor gets shifted from repetitive, ergonomically stressful tasks to roles requiring actual problem solving and exception handling.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

And when you pair that human redeployment with the relentless consistency of the right sizing machines, the operational metrics shift dramatically.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

What kind of metrics are we talking about?

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Medline saw an overall cycle time improvement of more than 50%.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

50%.

SPEAKER_02 13:41

Yes. They literally halved the time it takes in order to travel from the digital drop to the sealed truck.

SPEAKER_03 13:48

That's insane. And in the context of healthcare distribution, that speed is not a luxury.

SPEAKER_02 13:54

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

Hitting the daily shipping cutoff times to ensure next day delivery is a critical requirement for hospital supply chains. I mean, a surgical center cannot wait an extra 48 hours for sterile supplies just because your manual pack outline was understaffed on a Tuesday.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

The stakes in healthcare logistics absolutely demand that level of predictability.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

And this raises an important question for any operator listening who's evaluating their own end of line bottlenecks.

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Yeah, how do you actually model a solution that works in the real world?

SPEAKER_02 14:25

Well, Schwartz offered a vital piece of advice for the industry here. He warns against designing systems based on average daily volumes.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

Oh, because averages lie.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Averages absolutely lie. If you build a packout line designed to handle your volume on a random, slow Wednesday in April, your system will completely collapse during a demand spike.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Yeah. The whole line will just back up.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Right. You must evaluate the full end-to-end flow based on peak variability.

SPEAKER_03 14:50

So you have to analyze how the picking robots, the conveyors, the software, handshake, and the final packaging machines behave when the system is redlining.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

Exactly. That comprehensive stress-tested view is where real facility resilience is forged.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Aaron Powell That is the metric that matters. Peak resilience.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Well, to wrap up today's deep dive, we have watched Medline completely tear down a self-inflicted bottleneck.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

They really did.

SPEAKER_03 15:17

They realize that investing heavily in upstream ASRS without upgrading the manual packout was just strangling their throughput.

SPEAKER_02 15:26

Right, the sports car and a traffic jam.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

Exactly. By integrating RanPAX format and cut it EVO systems, they stopped treating their warehouse as disconnected pockets of efficiency.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Which is the trap we talked about earlier.

SPEAKER_03 15:37

Yeah. They transitioned to a continuous flow model where products are picked directly into dynamic trays, instantly laser mapped, and perfectly right-sized on the fly.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

It's incredible to visualize.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

It is. The result is a synchronized supply chain that halved its cycle times, redeployed its human capital, eliminated 10 pallet locations of cardboard complexity, and stopped paying to ship empty air.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

It is a blueprint for cubic efficiency. But I want to leave you with a final thought to ponder as you look at your own lines. We are seeing right-sized automated packaging systems become the gold standard across distribution centers. But if the shipping carton is now dynamically mapping itself to the millimeter to eliminate void space, how long until that logic works backward into product design? Oh wow. Right. Will manufacturers eventually start designing their primary products and retail packaging specifically to nest perfectly inside these exact automated tray dimensions?

SPEAKER_03 16:36

That is wild to think about.

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Knowing that cubic efficiency now dictates the speed and freight cost of global logistics, will the automated shipping algorithm ultimately design the product itself?

SPEAKER_03 16:46

The shipping box dictating the design of the product inside it. That is a massive paradigm shift to think about.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

It really is.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

Well, thank you for joining us on this deep dive.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Thank you for listening to Through the Line Packaging and Processing. You can listen to more episodes on all streaming platforms. Be sure to visit us at packworld.com, profoodworld.com, and healthcarepackaging.com for more packaging and processing news. This podcast was edited by Bree Guns.