How Automation Remodeled a Rising Snack Producer

Robotiq CEO Samuel Bouchard dives into how a regional snack producer leveraged automation to beat labor challenges, increase effectivity, and scale manufacturing. On this dialog with Mike Welch, Channel Gross sales Supervisor, they discover the journey to success and the advantages of automation with Robotiq.

Background

This week’s featured Robotiq buyer is a regional snack meals producer specializing in popcorn merchandise. Based mostly in a distant northern location, their enterprise has skilled exponential development over the previous few years. Regardless of not but attaining nationwide distribution, their manufacturing quantity has surged, straining their current tools and assets. To help their development, they’ve persistently invested in modern options to help their speedy enlargement.

Enterprise Challenges 

This buyer confronted important challenges tied to their speedy development and geographic location:

• Labor Shortages: Working in a distant space made it tough to recruit and retain sufficient employees for his or her end-of-line palletizing operations.
• Growing Throughput: Their rising manufacturing demand required a dependable and scalable answer to get rid of bottlenecks of their palletizing course of.
• Gear Limitations: Early automated methods they applied in 2021 struggled with heavier payloads, necessitating slower manufacturing speeds for some product traces.
• Price and Effectivity Pressures: To maintain their development and stay aggressive, they wanted to optimize their operations and guarantee a fast return on funding (ROI) for brand spanking new tools.

These challenges prompted the corporate to revisit their automation technique and discover upgraded options to fulfill their evolving wants.

Why Was Robotiq’s Palletizing Answer a Good Match?

The corporate in the end selected Robotiq’s palletizing answer for a number of causes:

1. Flexibility and Scalability: Our answer’s adaptability allowed the corporate to transition seamlessly from their older mannequin, decrease payload palletizer to 1 extra tailored to their evolving wants. This enabled them to deal with heavier payloads (as much as 25 kg) with ease whereas repurposing the older unit for lighter merchandise.
2. Ease of Use: With intuitive software program options like recipe choice and fast SKU setup, the system simplified product modifications and modifications. This was particularly essential for a facility with a small upkeep employees. Their new palletizer used the identical software program interface, making it seamless for operators to work the brand new one
3. Excessive Efficiency and Reliability: The upgraded system supplied enhanced pace and effectivity, decreasing downtime and guaranteeing uninterrupted operations at the same time as manufacturing calls for grew.
4. Fast Transition and Minimal Downtime: The transition from the PE10 to the PE20 was accomplished inside just a few hours, with minimal disruption to manufacturing. The group solely needed to palletize one load manually throughout the swap.
5. Confirmed Observe Report: Robotiq’s standardized and dependable merchandise supplied confidence within the long-term ROI and operational stability of their automation funding.

Ideas for Automating Finish-of-Line Palletizing

• Begin Early: Delaying automation can put you at an obstacle. Start integrating automation options now to place your small business for scalable development.
• Deal with ROI: Consider the potential return on funding. With methods like Robotiq’s, prospects like this one achieved a ROI inside 9 months on a three-shift operation.
• Prioritize Flexibility: Select options that may adapt to altering manufacturing wants, together with new SKUs, field sizes, and line configurations.
• Leverage Confirmed Options: Go for customary, field-tested merchandise over customized options. Confirmed methods are much less dangerous and simpler to deploy so that you get a quicker and predictable ROI
• Work with Dependable Companions: Collaborate with suppliers who supply high quality merchandise and in addition robust native help to make sure most uptime and effectivity.

  Automation is now not a luxurious however a necessity for companies aiming to remain aggressive. By investing in scalable, dependable options, firms can overcome labor challenges, enhance effectivity, and place themselves for long-term success.

  Craving extra automation success tales about snack producers? Check out how Deanan Popcorn leverages our answer to rework their operations!