Smart packaging wall

A method for high flexibility and speed box-last packaging, comprising:

• receiving, from one or more dimensional scanning sensors, dimension information describing physical dimensions of a group of one or more target products that are to be boxed;
• accessing, from a packaging database, a packaging inventory that comprises a listing of an available number of each respective packaging template type within a physical packaging template buffer, wherein the physical packaging template buffer comprises physical packaging templates that are already manufactured and ready to be folded into boxes;
• selecting a particular packaging template type that is associated with interior dimensions that are greater than or equal to the physical dimensions of the group of one or more target products;
• communicating to a packaging-production machine a template creation command that directs the packaging-production machine to create a first physical packaging template that corresponds with the particular packaging template type;
• communicating to the physical packaging template buffer a template identification command that provides a visual indicator indicating which physical packaging template should be selected from the physical packaging template buffer, wherein:
• the physical packaging template buffer contains a second physical packaging template that also corresponds with the particular packaging template type, and
• the template identification command causes the physical packaging template buffer to display to a user that the second physical packaging template should be constructed into a box.

A computer system for high flexibility and speed box-last packaging, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors configure the computer system to perform at least the following:
• receive, from one or more dimensional scanning sensors, dimension information describing physical dimensions of a group of one or more target products that are to be boxed;
• access, from a packaging database, a packaging inventory that comprises a listing of an available number of each respective physical packaging template type within a physical packaging template buffer, wherein the physical packaging template buffer comprises physical packaging templates that are already manufactured and ready to be folded into boxes;
• access, from the packaging database, an order queue that comprises information about currently pending orders that need to be boxed;
• receive, from one or more packaging-production machines, takt information, wherein the takt information describes an amount of time required to complete one or more pending orders within the order queue;
• and
• automatically optimize a boxing of the group of one or more target products by selecting a particular physical packaging template type based upon the packaging inventory, the order queue, and the takt information,
• wherein:
• selecting the particular physical packaging template type comprises displaying a visual indicator that is associated with a particular physical packaging template that also corresponds with the physical particular template type, wherein the visual indicator indicates a location of the particular physical packaging template within the physical packaging template buffer
• the particular physical packaging template type is associated with a particular production line selected from one or more production lines, the one or more production lines including:
• a first production line that is associated with pre-manufactured physical packaging templates, and
• a second production line that is associated with the physical packaging templates that are produced by the one or more packaging-production machines and stored within the physical packaging template buffer.