Packaging: Automated packaging line adds versatility, subtracts downtime

Seafood canning company Chicken of the Sea International decided it needed to add a bundling machine that could shrink wrap multiple cans into a package at its Lyons, Ga., plant. The new equipment has helped increase production on the line by 50% to 75%, while significantly reducing machine downtime.

The Lyons plant employs 350 people and produces about 36,000 cases of product a day. Over time, a larger and larger proportion of the product was being packaged into shrink-wrapped multi-packs. The plant had originally outsourced that capability but eventually reached the point where it needed its own bundling machine to shrink wrap a range of multi-packs on a new high-speed packaging line it was installing.

“The industry has gone to multi-packs in a big way, and we had to find a machine that could provide the four-pack that has become popular in grocery stores, as well as 6-, 10- and 12-packs,” says Jim Cox, vice president of operations for Chicken of the Sea. “The new equipment meets both speed and cost requirements, is built for 24/7 operations, and is extremely strong.”

Since the equipment is servo controlled, if something crashes and there is a bad label or bad can, operators can clean and reset the machine, hit start and the machine is up and running immediately. On the older generation machines, the chain could jump and the mechanic had to do a lot more to get the machine running again.

According to Cox, the new equipment runs at efficiencies of more than 95%. He estimates they are producing roughly 50% to 75% more product with 20% less manpower.

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