Among Forrest Gump’s greatest life lessons was the insight that you could never be certain what you would find inside a box of chocolates. Although Gump never actually clarified what that uncertainty is, it’s generally assumed he was referring to the various types of fillings hidden in chocolate candies.
Candy manufacturers, however, know that another type of uncertainty lurks when a box of chocolates is opened: the pieces may be smashed and the fillings stuck to the underside of the box top. To prevent this mess, these companies rely on vacuum grippers rather than mechanical ones to handle boxes of chocolates as they go down the assembly line.