Addressing a manufacturing

capacity shortage

Combination scales, vf/f/s machines, baggers that fill pre-made bags, and digital

thermal ink-jet coders are all part of an expansion at Loving Pets Products.

PAT REYNOLDS

VP EDITOR

hen Loving Pets, a maker of snacks for

pets, recently found itself just about

at capacity with its existing packaging

equipment, management wasted little time in sizing

up, purchasing, and installing new equipment that

would solve the problem.

The sizing up part, explains Operations Manager

Brad McManus, was done internally. “Our VerTek

vertical form/fill/seal machine and the 10-head

combination scale we already had in place had

been for some time our best performers in terms

of getting them installed, getting them running,

and keeping them running with very little interven-

tion needed,” says McManus. That being the case,

purchasing another similar system was practically a

no-brainer—except the new installation features a

VerTek 800 rather than a 750, and the combination

scale above it is a 14-head machine. Both VerTeks

and both combination scales are from

WeighPack Systems, Inc.

(www.weighpack.com).

The Cranberry, NJ-based pet snack maker didn’t stop there in its

capacity upgrade. Also installed at about the same time as the VerTek

800 and its combination scale was a WeighPack Swifty 3600 paired

with a 14-head combination scale just like the one above the VerTek

800. Unlike the VerTek, the Swifty fills pre-made bags.

Looking first at the new VerTek 800, its rated speed is 40 bags/

min, though Loving Pets runs it at a steady 30 bags/min. The products

being packaged are typically puffed potato and chicken chips. Each bag

contains 56 g, and finished package size is 2.6 x 9 in.

“Speed is a critical concern when you are selling a puff treat like

we are,” says McManus. “The idea is to sell a high-protein treat at a

October 2017

packworld.com

14 head CombiScale multi-head weigher accurately weighs and

dispenses pet treats (left). Swifty Bagger 3600 automatically opens,

fills, and seals pre-made pouches with zipper closures (above).

“Even with all of that upfront work,

there’s always something when the

machine actually arrives. WeighPack

sent along a technician who was very

highly skilled. Needless to say, that

helped enormously.”

Brad McManus

Operations Manager

Loving Pet Inc.

“After the machine arrived in January,

WeighPack sent in a technician, at their

cost, who spent a full week here taking

us through the installation and startup,

and he did not leave until it was totally

synchronized with our process.

“I really have to give WeighPack big

kudos for their excellent service and

attention to detail,” Rendon extols.

Luis Javier Rendon

Vice-president of operations,

Redlands Foods / Trophy Nut

A PrimoCombi multihead weighing

system would serve as the anchor

piece. And when all was said and

done, the project went so well that

JM Farms ordered a second line.

Terry Stoelzing

Operations Director

JM Farms

Reprinted from the July 2018 issue of

Accelerated ‘shrooms

get accuracy boost

Suffering from a dearth of reliable labor and a propensity to give away product,

this mushroom producer turned to automation to dial in on accuracy

and reduce dependence on hand labor.

MATT REYNOLDS

EDITOR

ccording to management at Miami,

OK, mushroom producer J-M Farms,

standing out from the competition can

be difficult in today’s global marketplace. The

company has learned to differentiate itself by

strictly guarding quality at every turn. It performs

three to four third-party food safety audits annu-

ally and imposes strict quality and safety regula-

tions on itself—beyond what is required by the

FDA. Ethical farming methods mean nothing is

wasted, and leftovers are recycled or repurposed.

This both ensures the company is a good neighbor

in its own community and creates savings that

allow it to keep prices consistent. These measures

have earned the company a loyal following of

repeat customers at grocers and retailers through-

out the South and the Midwest, and management

believes that the J-M Fresh label imparts repeat

business to grocers who carry the product.

Based on this model, the company has grown

in production over 40 years in business to a cur-

rent figure of 30 million pounds of whole or sliced

mushrooms per year. But even at that volume—

about a million pounds of sliced button mush-

rooms every other week—trays of the company’s

sliced mushrooms were still being hand portioned,

hand packed, and weighed on hand scales. And

for some time, they had been keeping up.

But unfortunately, just as many other CPGs

and food producers have experienced in recent

years, quality people are getting harder and harder

to find. With mushroom volume only increasing,

Terry Stoelzing, Operations/Production Director,

decided to turn to automation specifically on the

sliced mushroom line.

“The biggest factor in us looking to automate

Automation upgrade

July 2018

packworld.com

J-M Farms’ new combination scale anchors an all new primary packaging line with

conveyors, hoppers, labelers, metal detection, and more.

RELATIONSHIPS

LASTING

RELATIONSHIPS

Read all our testimonials:

www.weighpack.com/articles

“The Aurora plant’s production

manager Sonya Formanek, who

joined the company at the same time

that Smith took it over, says she is

very pleased with the machine’s

performance, singling out its user-

friendly operation, hygienic open-

access design for quick cleaning

and maintenance, quick changeover

capabilities and, to date, virtually

flawless performance.

“I have been very impressed with the

Sleek 50 Wrapper machine so far,”

Formanek states, saying the new flow

wrapper currently produces about

54 single-serve packs per minute

on average.

Sonya Formanek

Production Manager

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