New equipment allowed us to cut back on labor
Several years ago, Beaver Street Fisheries of Jacksonville, FL, one of the nation’s largest distributors of frozen seafood, began implementation of a case-ready program with the installation of one shrink tunnel, 8 ft of infeed conveyor and some stainless-steel tables. “We had been looking for a process that would allow us to do what meat and poultry distributors have done for a long time, which is offer their products in a refresh area in the grocery store, so that customers can have a choice of product that is thawed for their convenience, ready for a meal,” explains Jim O’Brien, BSF general manager.
Since beginning the program in spring 2002, BSF has expanded its case-ready capabilities to include two tray-wrapping lines with equipment that automates tray labeling, checkweighing, case sealing and case labeling. In addition, by replacing its original wrapping machine with two Ossid® 500E end-seal stretch/shrink wrappers and shrink tunnels from Ossid Corp. (www.ossid.com), BSF has eliminated product waste at the retail level by ensuring leak-free tray-packs.
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