Case Study
Snack packaging system enables contract packagers to fulfill orders quickly
An Illinois-based contract packaging company needed an efficient and ultra-fast packaging solution to package snack crackers for their client, a multi-national food and beverage manufacturer. The co-packer was seeking a packaging line that could hold and convey bulk snack crackers, weigh them to their client's exact specifications, and form fill and seal the crackers into convenient single-serve pillow bags. A leading contract packager for snack products, this company knew it required an integrated, turn-key solution to complete the current project efficiently and reliably as well as meet the needs of future contract packaging clients.
With their previous experience and success employing Viking Masek packaging solutions in the past, this contract packager turned back to their trusted source for another snack packaging system.
Our Approach
For the current project, the co-packer knew that they needed to produce pillow bags with a hole punch for easy vertical display of the snack product in stores. However, as a co-packer, the company was also concerned about speed, flexibility to run all types of bags, and leveraging new packaging technologies to their strategic advantage in the future.
The Viking Masek Solution
To meet the growing worldwide demand of the final client, a continuous motion VFFS machine was selected. This machine can run up to 150 cycles per minute and can create almost all bag types, making it the ideal flexible packaging solution for a co-packer.
To create a total contract packaging solution, a large bulk tote dumper was added to hold the snack crackers prior to conveyance to the packaging machine.
Next, snack crackers needed to be conveyed vertically to the level of the packaging machine filler. For this, a stainless steel Frazier & Son Model "C" Whiz Lifter bucket elevator infeed system was optioned.
Then, a Yamato multi-head scale was chosen to precisely weigh and deposit the snack crackers into the forming tube of the packaging machine for precise package fills.
The overall safety of the snack packaging line was enhanced with an in-line metal detector and a checkweigher was also added as an extra redundancy to ensure the packages are created to the client's specified target weight. To further meet customer requirements, a printer inscribes expiration dates and lot codes.
Finally, a mezzanine was chosen to surround the packaging system and make all parts of it accessible to operators, technicians, and maintenance persons.
The end result is a machine that can handle long production runs and is still flexible enough to meet the needs of a variety of the co-packer’s clients.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Check out continuous motion VFFS machines or read more about snack packaging trends.
Continuous motion VFFS machine - 150 cycles per min & creates almost all bag types