Schubert: a digital archive for on-demand production

Gerhard Schubert GmbH is the world leader in the market for top-loading packaging machines (TLM). For its robot-based digital packaging machines, Schubert combines simple mechanics, intelligent control technology and high modularity, developed through more than 50 years of innovation. And now additive manufacturing and a “digital warehouse” help improve this solution even further.

TLM technology allows Schubert to offer its customers high-performance, future-proof, reliable, easy-to-use and flexible packaging machine solutions in terms of format conversion. These machines package products of all types and from all sectors and industries – food and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, technical products – in boxes, trays, cartons or packaging bags.

Famous brands such as Ferrero, Nestlé, Unilever and Roche depend on Schubert automation solutions, along with many small, medium and family-run businesses. Founded in 1966, the second-generation company in Crailsheim, Germany, now employs more than 1,300 people.

A universal packaging line

A much appreciated part of Schubert’s service is the creation of new tools for its packaging machines. They allow machines to handle different products. With the help of a new tool, for example, a machine that packages chocolate bunnies at Easter will also be able to package chocolate Santa Clauses during the Christmas holidays. When a customer wants to produce a new product, they can simply send it to Schubert, who then develops the right machine tools and programming to handle it.

The use of additive manufacturing technology gives Schubert greater freedom in the designs he creates and much greater levels of flexibility than those created using traditional manufacturing methods.

For example, an instrument that once consisted of more than 200 parts can be created in a single print, reducing weight and assembly time.

3D printing also allows Schubert to iterate on parts much more quickly. Compared to traditional manufacturing methods, lead times per iteration have been reduced from weeks to hours, resulting in huge cost savings.

Conclusion

Gerhard Schubert GmbH, the market leader in top-loading packaging machines (TLM), is further enhancing its highly modular and intelligent robot-based solutions through the strategic integration of additive manufacturing (AM) and a «digital warehouse.» Schubert’s core competitive advantage—developed over 50 years—is already built upon a foundation of simple mechanics, sophisticated control technology, and high modularity, ensuring their machines are high-performance, future-proof, reliable, easy-to-use, and flexible in format conversion.

The addition of AM and the digital warehouse is key to the next phase of innovation. AM allows Schubert to quickly design and produce specialized, custom parts and tools on demand, dramatically reducing lead times and costs associated with traditional sourcing. The «digital warehouse» implies that digital files (CAD and G-code) for these parts are stored centrally, enabling rapid, localized production anywhere in the world. This synergy ensures Schubert can offer its diverse clientele—across food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and technical industries—unprecedented responsiveness and format flexibility, reinforcing its global leadership in packaging automation.