Automation vs Smart Manual Fulfilment: Do You Really Need Robots to Keep Up?

The ecommerce world is buzzing with talk of automation. From conveyor belts and robotic arms to AI-driven picking systems, the industry narrative often suggests that the future of fulfilment is purely mechanical. And yet, the reality for most businesses is far less straightforward. Automated fulfilment centres come with enormous costs, long payback periods, and limited flexibility.

For many brands, particularly those growing fast or handling diverse product ranges, full automation is simply out of reach. But that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the speed, efficiency, and cost savings that automation promises. Lil Packaging is here to show you how. Our packaging is engineered with fulfilment speed at its core - reducing packing steps, cutting labour costs, and helping you achieve consistent throughput without million-pound machinery.

Automation looks impressive. Robots moving in perfect synchrony, packages flying down conveyors, AI software directing operations. But peel back the curtain and the financial reality is daunting.

A fully automated fulfilment line can cost anywhere from £500,000 to £2 million and beyond to install, depending on complexity. On top of that, there are maintenance contracts, energy bills, staff training, software updates and the cost of re-tooling whenever your SKU range changes. Even when the system works flawlessly, the ROI typically takes 2–5 years to materialise and that’s only if your order volumes are consistently high enough to justify the investment.

Worse still, automation struggles with variability. If your products come in different shapes, sizes, or formats, the machines often require constant recalibration. Seasonal spikes, promotional bundles, or a sudden shift in your product mix can cause bottlenecks rather than improvements.

In short, while automation may have its place for the biggest players with predictable volumes, for most businesses it remains a costly dream.

In the end, customers don’t care whether their order was packed by a machine or by hand. They care that it arrives quickly, safely, and in good condition. That means fulfilment speed is what really matters. Every extra second spent assembling a box, applying tape, or stuffing void fill adds up to wasted labour costs.

This is where Lil Packaging shines. Instead of chasing costly automation, we focus on designing packaging that makes manual fulfilment fast, simple, and repeatable. By stripping away unnecessary steps, integrating clever features, and making every motion as efficient as possible, our products allow your team to pack more orders in less time.

Our packaging is built to do the heavy lifting in your fulfilment process. Here’s how: 

- Integrated protection: The Breezebox® with its patented Breezepaper® eliminates the need for loose void fill. Grabbing filler, tearing it and stuffing it is a whole sequence of steps that can take up to 30 seconds per order - instantly removed from the process.

Instead, the product is secured inside the packaging in one smooth motion. Simply wrap, pack, and ship. A Breezebox® can be packed in under 20 seconds (often 10–15 seconds once the packer is familiar with it). That’s thousands of hours saved during peak season. 

- Pop-up and auto-erect designs: Products like the S1 Pop-Up Mailbox assemble in seconds. These boxes can be “boxed in 15 seconds” — three times faster than a traditional 0201 box. No complicated folding, no tape, no wasted motion.

- Peel & Seal closures: Forget fiddling with tape dispensers. Our peel-and-seal strips are quick, clean, and reliable. This alone can save several seconds per order while ensuring a strong, tamper-evident seal. Our Lil Book wraps can be fulfilled in under 12 seconds!

- Ergonomic design features: From tear-strips that speed up opening to overhangs on release paper that make peeling effortless, every design detail is informed by real-world fulfilment. Our Lil Mailers can cut packing time in half!

These innovations may sound simple, but they translate into serious time savings when multiplied across hundreds or thousands of orders per day.

Let’s put the benefits into perspective. If a conventional box takes 40–45 seconds to assemble, fill, and seal, switching to Lil’s pop-up range can cut that down to around 15-20 seconds. That’s a saving of at least 20 seconds per order.

For a business fulfilling 1,000 orders per day, that equates to over 5.5 hours of labour saved every single day. Across a working month, that’s more than 100 hours - the equivalent of several shifts of work, freed up without hiring more staff or investing in new machinery.

When you add in designs like the Breezebox® - which removes the need for separate protective packaging altogether, the cumulative savings become even more compelling. One of our customers recently reported cutting packing time by 40% simply by switching to Lil’s range.

It’s not just about speed - it’s about adaptability. Automation often locks you into specific workflows. If your product lines change, your system may need expensive modifications. If order volumes dip, your investment sits idle.

Lil Packaging offers flexibility by design. Our range covers everything from flat mailers for books, vinyl, and documents, to sturdy boxes for cosmetics, electronics, and fashion. Switching between SKUs is as simple as grabbing the right box with no reprogramming required.

This flexibility is particularly valuable during peak seasons. Black Friday, Christmas, and seasonal promotions can put enormous strain on fulfilment centres. With Lil’s fast-pack solutions, you can scale up your human workforce quickly and maintain speed without worrying about whether your automated system can cope.

Automation might be the headline-grabber in the logistics world, but for most businesses it’s a costly distraction. Fulfilment speed is what matters and Lil Packaging delivers it in spades.

From the S1 Pop-Up Mailbox that’s ready in 15 seconds, to the Breezebox® that eliminates void fill altogether, our products are designed to make human fulfilment as efficient as possible. Add to that the potential to cut packing time by up to 40%, and the case for choosing packaging innovation over automation is compelling.

So, as a world of automation looms at a hefty cost to your fulfilment centre, remember this: you don’t need robots to pack faster. You just need smarter packaging.

Explore the full Lil Packaging range here.