Application: Bag Packed Plastic Utensils
SIC Code: 5113
Machine: HPT & HPA
Solution Option:
Production Rate:
A manufacturer in the South, supplying one of the nations largest warehouse retailers was faced with several factors effecting production throughput, labor and corrugated cost and employee morale.
They were hand assembling all three components of corrugated, as well as hand making and packing bags to insert the plastic utensils into. Through three shifts per day, primarily made up of temporary laborers, they were faced with a high daily output and the opportunity of more business if they met a daily production rate. The barriers to meeting this level of production were:
· Learning Curve of Temporaries
· Turnover of Employees
· Time taken to assemble complete package
· Margins on resale of product
· Number of employees taken to turn out production rate achieving.
The first step was a redesign of the tray from the current hand assembling style. When the tuck flaps were eliminated a corrugated reduction of up to 12% went into effect. They were currently utilizing up to 8 employees to achieve the less than goal production each day. Through implementation of the MARQ Solution, along with an automatic bag making machine and palletizer, 6 employees were reallocated to other areas of the plant to further enhance production. This allowed the use of higher skilled permanent employees, which strengthened output and not only met production goals, but allowed business from other plants to be transferred to this location.
The MARQ Solution erected and delivered the tray to the HSC Lidder portion of the machine. The HSC Lid was erected and the tray automatically placed into the HSC. The unit then passed down a small section of conveyor where after the two partition pieces were put together, where placed into the unit by the MARQ equipment. The unit then went into an accumulation area where the bags were placed into the partitioned areas of the unit and sent down the line to be automatically sealed by the top sealer. The top sealer automatically folded all top flaps, allowing for further reduction of a potential employee.
The payback from corrugated savings and labor reduction allowed for less than a 12-month payback and a higher morale for the entire plant.