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North Side super-sizes packaging value

Higher throughput is in the bag, in this case a large foodservice bag that is automatically filled, sealed, and packed on three new packaging lines. See in-plant video

Sausage patties exit the freezer on a conveyor and flow into a pivot pan that feeds patties into a bulk-and-dribble scale (right
Sausage patties exit the freezer on a conveyor and flow into a pivot pan that feeds patties into a bulk-and-dribble scale (right

North Side Foods Corp. of Arnold, PA, produces cooked sausage patties and links under the Ember Farms brand for a variety of foodservice accounts. In addition, under the McDonald’s brand, North Side packs cooked sausage patties for Oak Brook, IL-based McDonald’s Corp.

Until recently, North Side manually packed its products in waxed corrugated cases. Now, a 2.25-mil polyethylene pre-made bag supplied by Bag Pack (Cincinnati, OH) is automatically filled with product, sealed, and placed in shipping cases that are taped automatically.

“We were the only national company on the cooked sausage side that didn’t have some type of sealed container inside a case,” says Ed Fornadel, key accounts manager. “With this change, we’re on a level playing field with our competitors.”

In February, North Side invested more than $1 million for three new packaging lines to automate its packaging operations. According to Gina Turoscy, vice president of operations, North Side shaved labor costs by 10% when the new equipment went in.

“The manual packaging method that we were using prior to this was very labor-intensive,” she says. “Our employees started to have occurrences of repetitive motion injury.”

Paul Kafer, director of engineering and maintenance, relied on the expertise of distributor Capitol Automated Systems (West Chester, PA) to assist in finding efficient equipment. “We needed machines that could handle high volumes,” he says. “We wanted to offer our customers a large enough bag size that wouldn’t increase cost in packaging material.”

At the heart of all three lines is an Ohlson Packaging (Middleboro, MA) bulk-and-dribble scale and a Model WBS-918 wicketted bagger from JMC Packaging Equipment (Burlington, Ontario, Canada). “Capitol helped us make sure the two machines would talk to each other correctly and that the transition would be correct,” says Kafer.

North Side is expecting more than a 10% increase in throughput. Turoscy says, “Manual packing has been somewhat of a bottleneck as well to how quickly we can process our product.”

“By automating, we are able to process and package at maximum efficiency,” adds John Gallagher, director of operations. More than 200ꯠ lb of product is being produced per day.

Automation makeover

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