In 2025, Ranpak focused on delivering new products that are emblematic of its evolution from a paper-packaging specialist into a leading provider of complete technology solutions for supply chains. By leveraging cutting-edge capabilities like physical AI and machine vision, our solutions are now smarter and more efficient than ever, allowing us to serve customers across a wide range of industries and sizes with solutions tailored to their needs.

Ranpak’s most recent innovations have been focused on solving problems faced by packers while streamlining operations within pack stations, distribution centers, and fulfillment environments. Core challenges being faced by industry include labor constraints, throughput variability, space limitations, speed to ROI when investing in new systems, and the need to scale automation in manageable steps. Looking forward into 2026, these milestone innovations add to the foundation of a technology-driven approach to packaging.

Pad’it!: Adding Automated Protection to End-of-Line Packaging Flows

The reveal of a powerful upgrade to the Pad’it!™ system set the tone for the year. When automated packaging lines process fragile or high-value items, it’s important to be able to support them with additional padding. This system gives end-of-line flows the ability to accommodate without slowing down production or adding a manual step for packers.

This fully automated system uses the WrapPak^® Protector converter to create the pad,  then picks and places pads with a robotic arm. The system can add padding to up to 15 boxes per minute and ensures precise pad placement for a uniform and visually appealing package, improving both in-the-box protection and the unboxing experience.

PadPak Multi-Station: Scaling While Cutting Through Complexity

If there’s a common theme running through Ranpak’s product launches in 2025, it’s enabling scalability without adding complexity. Many customers will face ergonomic constraints as they grow and they need systems that can help them break through limitations to support future business. The PadPak^® Multi-Station exemplifies that approach. Designed to support multiple pack stations from a centralized system, it addresses a familiar challenge in high-volume operations: How to increase output without multiplying machines, footprints, or maintenance requirements. 

The PadPak Multi-station combines the best elements of automation and sustainable paper packaging by automatically delivering cushioning pads to the packer at their station, eliminating multiple converters and improving ergonomics. An automated line allows a single central PadPak paper converter to supply 100% recyclable, biodegradable, and renewable paper pads to up to 10 packing stations continuously.

DecisionTower with FillPak Trident: Leveraging Computer Vision to Conserve Materials

Material conservation is both a sustainability issue and a challenge that impacts the bottom line. Training packers to use precise amounts of materials can presents its own challenges and when consistency has an impact on margins, precision automation pays dividends.

The DecisionTower™ with FillPakTrident™ integrates machine vision and AI technology with the packaging line, dispensing precision amounts of void fill into each box which both optimizes packing and prevents machine stops to help you realize unrivaled ROI.

This solution uses the machine vision capabilities of Ranpak’s DecisionTower™ to measure package void and dispense the perfect amount of curbside-recyclable paper void fill material through a connected FillPak^® Trident™ converter. By combining sophisticated vision technology with sustainable paper packaging materials, the packaging process becomes less wasteful, more consistent, and provides a better customer experience during unboxing. Up to 35% paper use reduction is possible due to the combination of active void measurement and the unique triangle-shaped paper pads dispensed by the FillPak Trident™ converter which are engineered to fill space with the minimum required amount of paper materials.

Print’it!: Where Throughput Meets One-to-One Personalization

Within fulfillment operations, personalization and design has until now been treated as a nice-to-have, and often an expensive one, too! This is based off the need to print multiple different SKUs and store them on site in order to have the materials required to personalize individual packages. The benefits of building a connection with customers are undeniable, meaning that historically it has been worth it for some to invest in less efficient but highly effective personalization strategies. The Print’it!™ solution challenges that status quo by integrating on-demand custom printing directly into the packaging flow.

Working in tandem with a Cut’it! EVO™ height-reduction and box sealing machine or other lidded box system, the Print’it!™ solution can add custom full-color printed designs to packaging along a single automation line. The solution removes the need for multiple SKUs of pre-printed boxes while enabling downstream box customization and branding within a standardized automation setup: where packaging is right-sized, a lid is applied, and unique designs are printed without adding additional touchpoints. The ability to support separate branding for individual packages on a single line is an ideal match for third-party logistics providers (3PLs), e-commerce businesses, and other fulfillment parties looking to gain a competitive edge in their packaging presentation, supporting limited time offers, seasonal designs, birthday messages, and more.

The significance here isn’t just custom graphics, but rather timing. Printing at the moment of packing enables late-stage customization, regulatory labeling, or campaign-specific messaging without pre-printed inventory. For operations juggling SKU proliferation, regional compliance, or sustainability messaging, this capability turns packaging into a dynamic communication channel rather than a static cost center.

PadPak Guardian 24: 50 Years of Expertise, One Updated Paper Converter

Companies that want to balance costs and protection for cushioning applications may not immediately think that sustainability is also within reach. They might be surprised to learn that with the right paper cushioning systems they can cut costs in the box compared to plastic foam by up to 50%. These paper pads are also 100% curbside recyclable and the paper material retains its strength through up to seven cycles of reuse, enhancing sustainability goals.

PadPak Guardian® is a paper-based cushioning system designed for industrial use, featuring improved operational efficiency and a variety of modes and accessories to support packers. It enables enhanced throughput and simplified operator use in a compact design for space-conscious packaging stations.

The PadPak Guardian 24 represents a leap forward in paper cushioning solutions, designed to reduce repetitive strain on operators while ensuring consistent protective packaging. An example of how the Guardian is engineered for ultimate convenience can be found in its “recipe” mode, enabling operators to save and recall optimized packaging settings for specific products, box sizes, or protective needs, easily handling more complex packs with the touch of a button. This versatile packaging system is the product of over 50 years of packaging expertise, enhancing packaging workflows for irregular and fragile items in medical and pharma industries, supporting automotive by providing proven protection for heavy items, and excelling in e-commerce scenarios where batch modes can pre-produce pads or dispense them on-demand with an electronic delivery system (EDS) mode.

FillPak Mini: Void-fill Solutions for Any Sized Business

The need for versatility has been a common refrain among Ranpak customers. With both space and labor at a premium, packaging solutions must deliver value in a compact footprint while also remaining easy to use. The ideal systems for individual pack stations can provide the full benefit of high-quality packaging materials while integrating ergonomically and seamlessly wherever they are needed.

In order to accommodate these critical needs, Ranpak debuted our most compact powered paper void fill solution. This multifunctional paper void fill solution is Ranpak’s most easy-to-integrate void fill converter, combining a super small footprint that can fit within any packing environment with a convenient range of operation styles to maximize the productivity and ergonomics of the pack station.

When combined with the Geami MV™ paper wrapping solution, which protects products from scratches and surface damage and replaces plastic air bubbles, the Fillpak Mini supports a broad range of businesses while remaining supremely adaptable to any space constraints.

Cut’it! XL: Automatic Rightsizing and Lid Application for Larger Boxes

Any business engaged in high-volume shipping quickly learns that rightsizing is a major benefit when cutting down on shipping costs. This is particularly important for businesses looking to conserve their dimensional weight (DIM weight) charges related to packaging. Any excess size is converted to unnecessary costs, and since a larger, heavier box incurs more expense through excess volume, the benefits of rightsizing can be particularly acute for those shipping bigger or more irregularly shaped items.

As a new evolution to the existing Cut’it! EVO line of solutions, Cut’it!™ XL is built to rightsize and close extra-large boxes fast, efficiently, and with minimal void. Designed for bulky, large, and multi-item orders, it automates box height reduction and lid application actions to improve throughput and reduce freight costs.

Cut’it! XL delivers increased productivity through automatic height reduction and fast throughput of up to 7 large boxes per minute, with a very large box size ranging from 600×350 up to 1000×610 mm (23.6×13.8 up to 39.4×24.4 inch). Packers gain significant time savings, material savings, and reclaimed space in the warehouse while handling heavy, large, and irregularly shaped items, allowing the benefits of end-of-line automation to extend past more conventional box footprints and cover sizes that deliver huge value and quick ROI.

Your Virtual Troubleshooter: AI Chatbot Support for Cut’it! EVO

The principles behind physical AI as practiced by Ranpak includes the mutual support of smart robotics systems and their operators. Bringing humans and technology closer together allows them to deliver their strengths and cover areas where either would be less effective alone. Fostering the connection between warehouse employees and automation systems means developing means for communication, clearly delivering information and helping to identify any areas where intervention is required.

In 2025 Ranpak delivered a new voice-activated AI chatbot feature that supports Cut’it!™ EVO operators. This advanced diagnostic module delivers real-time system guidance, technical support, and streamlined support to end-of-line packagers.

Developed to reduce downtime and simplify support in fast-paced fulfillment settings, it provides intuitive access to questions prompted via keyboard or voice that guide operators through resolutions. In doing so, this feature enhances visibility, expedites troubleshooting, and delivers smart voice-activated support to operators with minimal technical training.

This is a voice-assisted chatbot that allows operators to access operating manuals, guides, and machine information in seconds. It features:

• Hands-free help: Voice-activated troubleshooting at the machine.
• Instant support: Access to manuals, guides, and solutions in seconds.
• Empowerment of every operator: AI guidance for faster onboarding and fewer errors.

NatureMailer: Eco-friendly Padded Mailers in Europe

Ranpak customers motivated by sustainability are often looking to remove plastics from their packaging wherever possible. That includes their usage of flexible mailers, which are a common packaging type in e-commerce settings in particular where they can help conserve shipping costs while protecting smaller orders. From a brand perspective, these customers want to ensure that every touchpoint presents the same commitment to recyclable materials, communicating to their end-customers that they value our shared environment and want to facilitate an easy recycling process.

In tune with the increasing emphasis on eco-friendly packaging across Europe, Ranpak released its NatureMailer™ padded mailers  to our European customers after a previous successful launch in North America. They provide protection using the power of paper without a foam or poly interior. Ranpak’s signature honeycomb paper material provides a layer of protection for your products while remaining fully curbside recyclable.

A self-sealing adhesive and pull-tab tear strip facilitate easy packing and opening in a range of convenient sizes, helping you unlock the benefits and cost savings of mailer packaging without compromising on sustainability or productivity.

The Bigger Picture: What 2025 Really Delivered

Looking across the 2025 product introductions, a few patterns are clear:

• Simpler solutions: Systems are designed to reduce complexity and plug into existing packaging lines. Features including smaller solution footprints, modular systems, and new additions to support all the stages of end-of-line packaging help customers to get the full support that they need.
• Eco-friendly solutions: Ranpak’s continued commitment to paper-based packaging solutions increases the potential to achieve recyclability goals and help customers achieve their goals of eradicating foam or plastic packaging.
• Human-centric automation: Ergonomics, usability, and operator experience are at the core of each design, with thought out features and profiles based on deep expertise in the packaging industry.
• Easier time to ROI after investment: With a focus on simpler, more logical packaging solutions, Ranpak’s products continue to add value and cost efficiencies for packers of any size that can quickly realize ROI through productivity gains.

Together, these innovations set a strong foundation for 2026. We look forward to building on this progress—and continuing the journey alongside our customers and partners.