IN Brief:
- Packsize and Swisslog formalised a partnership on 4 November 2026 to integrate right-sized packaging into wider warehouse automation design.
- The planned approach coordinates carton production with storage, retrieval, picking, and downstream dispatch rather than adding packaging as a separate late-stage process.
- Existing joint projects include Northern Tool + Equipment, where Swisslog links AutoStore with Packsize carton production through SynQ software.
Packaging technology company Packsize and warehouse automation integrator Swisslog have formalised a partnership to design fulfilment systems in which on-demand carton production is coordinated with storage, retrieval, picking, and dispatch. The agreement, announced on 4 November 2026, builds on installations the two companies have already delivered together. It is intended to make packaging part of the original warehouse systems design rather than a separate process added once the storage and picking equipment has been specified.
Packsize’s equipment produces corrugated cartons to suit the dimensions of individual orders, while Swisslog designs and integrates automated storage, robotics, control systems, and product movement. The combined design must establish when carton dimensions are calculated, where a box is manufactured, and how it reaches the appropriate picking or packing station alongside the goods. These choices affect conveyor routes, buffer capacity, workstation layout, and the timing of order release.
Conventional fulfilment operations often pick products into a tote or carton before deciding how the completed order will be packaged for transport. Where carton production is integrated earlier, a correctly sized box can be prepared before picking finishes and moved to the workstation at the appropriate time. The approach can remove an additional transfer into a separate shipping box, but its effectiveness depends on accurate item dimensions, order composition, and coordination between equipment. An order changed after carton manufacture may require a different box or a manual exception.
Swisslog contributes the systems integration needed to coordinate storage and retrieval machinery with downstream processing equipment. Automated storage equipment can deliver a product tote to a station in a predictable sequence, while carton machinery needs the required dimensions and enough time to produce the box before the goods arrive. If the two processes operate at different rates, one can become a bottleneck for the other. Buffers and software control therefore play as important a role as the mechanical speed of the packaging line.
Paul Roy, Senior VP, Global Partnerships & Business Development at Packsize, said: “Packsize and Swisslog will work together to help customers design and realize smarter fulfilment systems by integrating right-sized packaging into the flow of goods to improve efficiency, scalability, and the customer experience,” and added: “This isn’t just adding another capability; it’s bringing packaging into the same conversation as storage, retrieval, and sequencing from day one.”
The companies say they have already completed several joint installations, but have not disclosed a total deployment count, a new customer pipeline, or an aggregate improvement in throughput. The 4 November agreement formalises a relationship involving equipment design and integration; it does not establish that additional facilities have been commissioned. Handling savings, material reduction, and freight economics will depend on the order profile and equipment used at each site.
A completed installation at Northern Tool + Equipment in the United States demonstrates the type of coordination involved. Swisslog integrated an AutoStore storage system with Packsize’s automated carton production, using its SynQ software to synchronise the delivery of goods and right-sized cartons at picking stations. Swisslog’s customer case study describes a system with 62 AutoStore robots, 23,175 storage bins, and six carousel picking ports. The project replaced a three-level manual picking module and reportedly freed nearly 50,000 square feet of warehouse space.
At that installation, the storage system presents the goods for an order while the packaging equipment prepares a carton that can receive the picked items directly. Packsize identifies its X5 machine as the solution selected for this phase and says it can produce a box in less than six seconds. Its case study describes the carton being routed to the goods-to-person picking area, followed by automated closing, labelling, and dispatch processes. These are supplier-reported specifications and outcomes from Northern Tool’s facility, not performance guarantees for every project covered by the new partnership.
At Northern Tool, coordinating carton production with picking removes the need to send completed goods through a separate repacking stage. Without matched timing, operators may have to hold picked items in an intermediate tote or wait for the correct box to reach a workstation. The design still needs routes for awkwardly shaped items, fragile goods requiring additional cushioning, and consignments too large for the carton-making equipment. Automation of a standard order does not eliminate manual exception handling.
Smaller cartons can reduce unused space and the quantity of filling material, although a right-sized carton still has to meet the product’s strength and handling requirements. Board grade, carton structure, product weight, and the need for protection in transit affect how much corrugated material is actually consumed. Shipping cost also depends on carrier tariffs: lowering dimensional weight can reduce charges where volumetric measures govern, but will not necessarily change the price of a heavy shipment rated by actual mass. No common packaging or emissions reduction figure has been released for the new partnership.
Bill Stenger, SVP of Sales at Swisslog, said: “As fulfilment operations become increasingly automated, the inclusion of packaging automation in a holistic warehouse automation design has never been more important,” and added: “As one of the largest solutions integrators of intralogistics automation, this partnership marks the next evolution of our company and gives customers the most unified path from storage to shipment.”
Shared order data will be needed to determine the carton dimensions, box specification, picking status, and dispatch requirements before the separate machines can operate in sequence. If carton production stops, the warehouse may have to hold picked goods, divert orders to another packing line, or switch to manual operation without losing item traceability. The partners have not published a common software interface specification, commissioning procedure, or service-level agreement for future installations.
The new partnership does not name additional warehouse projects, countries, contract values, or performance targets. Northern Tool’s existing system demonstrates how carton production can be synchronised with AutoStore and packing, but its results cannot be treated as a performance guarantee for future customers. Subsequent installations will need to establish the handling steps removed, packaging material consumed, and reliability of order sequencing across each complete fulfilment operation.
