The current economic situation is having a definite impact on packagers’ plans to purchase automation equipment for their packaging lines or to further implement automation in their systems, according to the recently completed 2009 Automation in Packaging survey of end users performed by Packaging Digest and control Engineering magazines. This study follows up on a similar survey of end users conducted in the first quarter of 2008.
　　This benchmarking survey drew 507 respondents who met the cr

iteria of being brand ownersCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, converters or contract packagers. The study showed that 56.6 percent of the respondents indicated that the economy has decreased the likelihood that their company will purchase automation equipment in 2009.

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　　Results were mixed when survey participants responded to a question regarding their use of installed automation equipment. This was a follow-up to a question in the 2008 survey that found more than 50 percent of participants said they were not using all their installed automation equipment or capabilities.
　　The 2009 study found that while 55 percent said the economy likely wouldn’t affect their use of installed automation equipment, about 27 percent said they intend to decrease use of automation equipment already installed. However控制工程网版权所有, nearly 18 percent planned to make more use of automation already included in their installed lines.
　　Purchasing dropped suddenly
　　Many packaging equipment manufacturers reported strong sales in 2008CONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, right up until the fourth quarter of the yearCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, when orders for packaging equipment slowed dramatically.
　　Even though many respondents see automation as the means to control costs, they were reluctant make major investments at the time of the survey.

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　　Shrinking sources of financing have been one of the major causes of the current recession. However控制工程网版权所有, in the packaging equipment market, many purchases of capital equipment are paid for with cash. Consequently, nearly 59 percent of respondents report no major change