Managing Tariff-Driven Order Surges: Why Full Service Automation Is the Smartest Move

Last week, a Formic customer reached out with concerns about impending tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. As prices threatened to climb, they were hit with a surge of orders from existing and new customers racing to secure domestic supplies before other companies got the same idea, creating both a challenge and an opportunity to scale fast.

This Tuesday, March 4, new tariffs on goods imported to the United States from Canada, Mexico, and China officially went into effect. The three countries are the largest trading partners of the U.S., accounting for more than a third of products brought into the U.S. and tens of millions of American jobs. Amid the 25% tax on goods from Canada and Mexico and the 20% tax on Chinese imports, manufacturers and consumers alike are beginning to prepare for supply chain disruptions and rising prices.

All three countries have also introduced their own tariffs on American goods. While conversations are ongoing between President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on an exemption on certain imported products, it’s unlikely the tariffs will be rolled back, but could be paused. On Wednesday, March 5, President Trump gave a one-month tariff exemption to U.S. automakers while they “shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariffs.”

At Formic, we’ve seen Full Service Automation help combat unwelcome disruptions, whether it’s tariff hikes, labor shortages, or supply chain upheavals, helping manufacturers stay resilient and ready to scale while maintaining predictable operational expenses. Below, we break down how Full Service Automation can help manufacturers handle upcoming surges in customer demand.

Why Manufacturers and Suppliers Are Getting More Orders

While the tariffs will impact industries and businesses differently, manufacturers and suppliers should prepare for an increase in orders amid new tariffs for a few reasons.

• Stockpiling: Companies that rely on imported goods are already placing larger orders now to avoid paying higher prices down the line.

• Shifting Suppliers: To avoid tariffs on foreign-made goods they once relied on, many businesses may turn to U.S. manufacturers for products instead.

• Competitive Advantage: As prices on imported goods increase, domestically-made products become more price-competitive, leading to more orders from existing and new customers. Their old “go-to” might not be the most economical anymore.
• Supply Chain Adjustments: Over the last few years, some companies have already begun reshoring efforts. Tariff hikes might accelerate the process, increasing orders for U.S.-made products.

As production ramps up and labor remains tight, companies may invest or scale automation to handle higher order volumes efficiently.

The Resilience of Full Service Automation

More orders are good for business, but only if you’re able to keep up. To fulfill an unexpected surge in demand, companies have traditionally had to hire for second and third shifts. On top of labor already being hard to find, paying people to work these later shifts often costs more.

Instead of scrambling to hire more workers, Full Service Automation makes it easy to meet consumer demand, scale production, and keep prices steady. Plus, the more you use the automation equipment, the cheaper it is.

Rather than scoping, purchasing, and deploying automation alone, Formic is an Automation Managed Services Provider providing 24/7 tech support, 100% preventative and corrective maintenance, and contracted performance rates. This means the entire scoping, deployment, and maintenance process is handled so businesses can focus on doing what they do best and don’t have to worry that the system won’t run as planned or break down and bottleneck production.

Plus, as busy needs evolve, like during a new tariff hike, customers can easily swap equipment to keep up. Just last week, Formic’s robotics engineers swapped out a palletizing system at an Illinois facility after a surge in demand required a higher-capacity solution.

Nick DeLong, Formic's Technical Operations Manager,

during a customer deployment

Full Service Automation Deployment Is Fast

Now that new tariffs are officially in place, many companies will need a solution they can scale quickly to keep up with surging demand. Fortunately, Full Service Automation allows businesses to respond more effectively to changes in demand caused by tariff-related price shifts or disruptions in imported goods.

For example, earlier this year, Formic customer Land O’Frost (LOF) deployed five robotic palletizing systems throughout two weekends and trained floor operators to use the machines without any disruption to production. Now, they’re able to pack and ship 128,000 pounds of meat daily and save 20% on labor-related OpEx every day.

“Having someone handle the maintenance, it’s not something that we’re used to, but it’s definitely one of the key points for us,” said Frank Mejia, Head of Continuous Improvement at LOF. “We’ve had very minimal downtime on the units because they’re being maintained by Formic.”

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Full Service Automation Adapts Faster to Market Changes without CapEx

As customer requests surge, automation allows companies to respond more quickly to shifts in market demands or supply chain conditions. As tariffs increase the cost of imported goods, companies that have deployed automation can quickly ramp up their production to maintain a competitive edge in pricing and availability. This flexibility is nearly impossible to achieve without automation.

At Mi Rancho’s facility in Elk Grove, California, the tortilla manufacturer started with just two robotic palletizing systems and is now up to 12 after realizing initial growth in production capacity and seeing how fully serviced automation makes automating easy.

“For us to have robotics and to own robotics, we would have to bring people with that skillset,” Joe Santana, Mi Rancho’s Senior Director of Operations said. “But Formic committed to maintain the equipment, to service the equipment, to do all the technical support and programming and they offered to handle that portion for us. It’s probably the only project where the supplier said exactly what the process would look like and what the results would be.”

However, Santana explained that the purchase request for end-of-line robotic palletizers was competing with a long list of other capital intensive growth projects. For companies with limited CapEx, Full Service Automation makes it possible to put OpEx budget toward automation and spend CapEx budget on other projects.

Full Service Automation Fills Labor Gaps While Upskilling Employees

The U.S. manufacturing sector continues to face a labor shortage, with an anticipated 2.1 million open jobs by 2030. In turn, as new tariffs affect consumer demand, retaining employees is more important than ever.

Full Service Automation fills labor gaps, but also upskills current employees. At Formic, we’ve trained thousands of workers on the production line to be robot operators, transitioning them from bending, lifting, and twisting to more creative and revenue-focused business tasks.

As Taffy Town’s President and CEO puts it, “In the long run, if you let equipment do more of the hard stuff and employees do more of the thinking, you’re going to have more long-term success, retain employees, and ultimately just put out a better product,” Jason Glade said.

With full automation support, it’s also possible to think outside the box. When Taffy Town added a Formic robotic palletizer to their end of line, they discovered they still needed an employee nearby to monitor printing and case sealing. To help, Formic engineers partnered with Taffy Town’s operations team to leverage their knowledge and industry contacts to solve this problem quickly. Access to this expert network is a perk of being a Formic customer and Automation Community member.

Now that employee who was stuck monitoring the system will soon be free to work on more creative work.

Managing Tariff Order Surges with Full Service Automation

During turbulent times, it’s important to have a plan to ensure your business can remain flexible and resilient. Formic’s Full Service Automation doesn’t require CapEx, internal expertise, or lengthy install times, making it an easy and quick way to respond to unexpected market changes.