In 1976, two engineers at Monsanto Corporation saw a problem on the plant floor that needed to be solved. Workers were manually handling heavy 55-gallon drums Their people were handling 400- to 500-pound drums and sustaining frequent injuries. So, the idea was simple. Build a modular palletizer that takes the lifting out of it.
The hydraulic palletizing system that followed used an overhead wiper with cam followers and a stripper plate to efficiently place drums onto pallets automatically placed from a dispenser. And on top of that, it paid for itself within a year or two. These workhorses could last 20 years or more – an obvious good ROI.
From this, the engineers saw a larger market. If Monsanto needed this solution, it was likely that every other manufacturer moving heavy products would need their variation of the solution, too. They quit their jobs and started a company with one fabricator in a garage.
That company became PASCO. Fifty years later, it remains one of the few automation integrators from that era still operating independently. Most competitors were absorbed into larger conglomerates or disappeared entirely, but PASCO survived by staying focused on what it started doing: solving major production problems on plant floors.
From one problem to complete end-of-line systems
From that single hydraulic palletizer, PASCO developed solutions for pail palletizing, case erecting, valve bag placing, depalletizing, conveying and beyond. The solutions are engineered to work together as integrated packaging lines to serve manufacturers across a wide range of industries, handling bags, cases, drums, kegs and other packaged goods.
PASCO manufactures nearly all the components used in its systems while working with a strong network of vendors and partners to support integration, installation and long-term system performance.
By the early 2000s, PASCO had become a respected specialist in end-of-line automation. The company was profitable and customers returned repeatedly, but the industry was moving toward robotics. Sandy Elfrink Nardulli, CEO and President, could see that PASCO had to evolve with it or disappear.
Making a bet on robotics
Sandy Elfrink Nadulli had been involved in the family business, PASCO, since 1987. She understood what happened to companies that refused to adapt and evolve. She had watched it happen. When the robotics opportunity came, she pushed forward despite significant skepticism across the market itself.
At the time, robotics felt like a gamble. Standard mechanical palletizing had been the norm since World War 2. The technology was unfamiliar, customers were hesitant, rates were limited, and the investment was substantial. But leadership understood the alternative: competitors were embracing the ease of maintenance of robotics for the right applications.
PASCO integrated its first industrial robot in 2004, and through development, expanded the speed and repeatability possible at the end of packaging lines. By 2006, the company had developed robotic valve bag placers, demonstrating how robotics could be adapted to solve other specific packaging challenges.
By 2026, robots are incorporated into 97 percent of PASCO’s systems. PASCO integrates robotic systems from partners like FANUC, but the real transformation was internal. The code became as critical as the hardware. After all, a robot without proper programming is just metal.
Expanding the scope
In 2023, PASCO acquired Versatech, a custom process automation brand based in Effingham, Illinois. Both brands now operate under the Pasco Systems Corp umbrella.
The PASCO brand focuses primarily on end-of-line automation, the final operations before product ships, while Versatech specializes in process automation, the custom problems upstream that affect how product reaches packaging in the first place. Now, together under Pasco Systems Corp, the two brands address the full automation sequence, from process through end-of-line.
Together, PASCO and Versatech provide automation solutions from process through end-of-line, with more than 1,700 systems operating in manufacturing facilities worldwide.
The mission at fifty
PASCO has remained true to its founding mission through three major technological revolutions: from mechanical machines to programmable controls to robotic systems. The company builds systems that solve real world problems manufacturers face.
Sandy Elfrink Nardulli has run PASCO for nearly four decades with the second generation of the family coming into company leadership now.
“We started by solving a major problem on a plant floor,” Sandy Elfrink Nardulli said. “Fifty years later, that is still the job. Manufacturers bring us problems, and we build systems to reduce or erase them.”
The fifty-year milestone reflects something increasingly uncommon in American manufacturing: a company that evolved without losing focus on its purpose. While technology transformed, markets shifted and scale expanded, PASCO’s commitment to solving manufacturing problems on plant floors around the world never wavered.
For an automation integrator marking fifty years in an industry built on consolidation and disruption, that consistency is the story worth telling.
PASCO, a leading palletizing and end of line automation provider, is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, under parent company Pasco Systems Corp. Founded in 1976, PASCO has spent five decades solving automation challenges for manufacturers worldwide. More information is available at pascosystems.com
