Flexibility vs. Automation: These are opposite terms. Typically the plant that handles the fewest number of products, one type of bag, and requires at least 3,000 bags per 8 hour day is a good candidate for automation. Conversely, plants with multiple products, paper and plastic bags are not nearly as good a candidate for automation.
Man Power: even the most automated system will require one operator to be present 100% of the time.
One man can typically stack 350 bags per hour on pallets. Operations of higher speeds can look at a semi automatic palletizer, which requires one operator who can handle up to 20 bags per minute, or 1,200 bags per hour. Automation in palletizers is dependent upon the condition of the pallets, configuration of the rows, overlapping of the bags, etc. A plant using new pallets, one bag pattern, and no overlapping is a better candidate for automation than a plant that uses #2 and #3 grade pallets and has a variety of bag patterns.
