The Automatic Box Maker

An automatic taping machine isn't the only time saver at work in Newegg's warehouse, at the end of the production line there's an automatic box maker that takes collapsed cardboard boxes and folds them into a box that's ready for your order.

There's a stack of collapsed boxes on an incline that feed the machine as you can see below:


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A set of four suction cups lunge at the first collapsed box attaching themselves to it and pull it out, thus expanding the box:


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With the box fully expanded, the bottom flaps are folded in and the box is pushed along:


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After it's done with one box, the machine resets itself and begins on the next:


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The automated box maker makes a lot of boxes:


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Between the picker, the extensive rolling conveyers, peanut guns, automatic box maker and taping machine things are bound to go wrong. Just in case you were wondering, Newegg does keep a handful of spare parts for all of the machinery in their warehouse:


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Packing your Order and the Peanut Gun Shipping and the UPS/FedEx Debate
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  • Blondie - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link

    The article was very informative. Thank you so much for taking the time to bring it to us.
  • Bozo Galora - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link

    wow, anand is all growed up.

    I often wondered if the $50 million plus payout for AT site during the dotcom bubble that anand missed by just a few weeks has been made up for over the ensuing years. Hmmmmmmmmm.
    Was it Sharkey that got $70 million or sumthin. LOL
  • Phiro - Thursday, February 16, 2006 - link

    99.9999999% of those dotcom bubble payouts were in stock, which 99.99999% of the time dropped tremendously in value before they could unload any.

    So 99.999999% of your $50M deals turns into $50k deals.
  • jnmunsey - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    Hey man NewEgg ain't got no white employees.. Those racist bastards!
  • jnmunsey - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    No wait I found 1 white guy in this pic from page 1 of the article.. The token white guy can be found here in the middle-left of the pic
    http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/IT/InsideNeweg...">http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/IT/InsideNeweg...
  • andrep74 - Friday, February 17, 2006 - link

    Yeah, have you ever read the requirements for getting a job there? You practically have to speak Chinese...
  • yanman - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    Anand, how about you use this chance to get NewEgg to offer international shipping for us poor aussies :)
  • Schmide - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    but with all that technology. How come my browser never starts on page 1 in their hot deals section. It’s always page 3 or 4. LOL.
  • Slaimus - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    Newegg got (in?)famous on Anandtech when they were the only one to sell the Radeon LE (Sapphire version imported from China, back in the day when all ATI was made by ATI themselves). It was far cheaper than the Made by ATI Radeon DDR. This got posted in Hot Deals forum and everyone was pleased with their fast and free shipping. They got in trouble, however, when people found out it was the LE (slower) version instead of the full Radeon DDR. There was a big uproar (I think the thread grew to 500 posts or so), and Newegg was forced to take in returns or offer price adjustments. This is also what started the cheap "refurbs" that newegg sells, which were just customer returns. This was probably also why Newegg started posting the core/memory speeds of graphics card they sell.
  • kmmatney - Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - link

    Heck yeah!!! I bought one of those Radeon LEs for cheap after the first debacle. I flashed the BIOS to a full Radeon. It gave me a top of the line $150 video card for $65!! Back then, top of the line as $150 :(.

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