posted on July 02, 2014 15:49
THE CHALLENGE
A turf products and advanced granule technology company secured a contract to manufacture popular lawn care products for a multi-national chemical and health care corporation. The additional volume and customer expectations caused them to re-evaluate their current procedure. They needed sustainable throughput levels and were concerned about the ergonomic strain placed on their employees to achieve this. They also recognized the need for consistent, professional looking packages, which could not be replicated by hand. The need for automation was apparent. Loveshaw recommended an integrated system with product delivery and ergonomic packing stations.
THE EXISTING PACKAGING LINE
The existing line was entirely manual with the exception of a semi-automatic case sealer. Two operators would form boxes by hand, two operators would insert the product, and a final operator would fold the top flaps and process the case through the sealer
THE RIGHT LEVEL OF AUTOMATION
The PackPoint A-20 is a fully integrated packing system. It starts with an automatic case erector. The product and case conveyors deliver product and erected cases to the operator at the ideal ergonomic packing position. The operator can then pack the product into the case without having to bend, twist or reach. Finally, the case is folded and sealed automatically. This system provided the sustainable throughput that the customer needed and it addressed their concerns for ergonomics. The new system only required 3 packers, allowing them to maintain the same level of throughput they were getting with 5 operators. The reallocated labor costs helped justify the capital investment.
CONTRACT MANUFACTURERS NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE
The PackPoint by Loveshaw is not the only system that was evaluated. The components that make up PackPoint can be utilized individually. This gives the customer the ability to change the line as they acquired new contracts. Competing systems are typically one piece and can’t be broken up. PackPoint delivers taped cases out of the erector. Products will not fall out if the case is removed from the conveyor. The competition does not tape the box until it enters the sealer. Finally, PackPoint is able to run in continuous mode to maximize throughput or manual mode for off-peak time. Continuous mode is used for situations where the machines need to pace the operators (multiple operators, product sizes and patterns easier to pack). Manual mode lets the operator dictate the speed of the machine for situations that require few packers, more visual inspection of product or time to complete complex packing patterns. The competing system did not have this ability and only operates in manual mode.
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