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Brookville Glove receives helping hand

When new management took over Brookville Glove, a move to shrink bundling was one of the first improvements in operations to be made.

Brookville's protective new shrink-wrapped bundle (inset foreground) often makes a smaller unit than its twine-tied predecessor
Brookville's protective new shrink-wrapped bundle (inset foreground) often makes a smaller unit than its twine-tied predecessor

Brookville Glove Co. has built its enviable reputation by making a wide variety of gloves that keep up with changing industrial, agricultural, and sports uses. Until earlier this year, however, Brookville’s packaging operation for its gloves wasn’t keeping up with the times.

So when Eric Luvaas became general manager at the Brookville, PA-based manufacturer, he called on Steve Rosel, a sales representative for Philpac, a packaging distributor in Buffalo, NY. Rosel and Luvaas had worked together on another assignment when Luvaas worked at a different company.

Eventually, Rosel called in Bob Lemke, Philpac’s packaging equipment specialist, and, after viewing the Brookville operation, the two offered Luvaas several different options for upgrading packaging.

Eventually, Philpac installed a new semi-automatic glove bundling and packing line using a variety of equipment the distributor represents: The line includes an L-bar film wrapper and shrink tunnel from Damark (Lewisville, TX), a case packing station and sealer from Belcor (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada), a print-and-apply labeler and a high-resolution ink-jet printer, both from Loveshaw (South Canaan, CT), and powered and gravity conveyors from KPC-Master’s Craft (Wooster, OH).

The proposal that Brookville accepted was based on its current production volume along with increases that the company anticipated. Space constraints at the plant were also an issue, according to Luvaas.

Hand-tying bundles

When Luvaas joined Brookville, workers were hand-tying bundles of 12 pair by hand with twine and inserting a card that was stamped by hand from an ink pad that displayed the models and sizes. The bundles were then loaded into chipboard boxes to protect them. At the time, the plant had five people working on packaging, with a production output of 750 dozen packs per shift.

“We had a wooden fixture to load the bundle in with the stamped chipboard tag,” Luvaas recalls. “By using a foot pedal, the operator could compress the bundle and twine was fed around it, but it had to be tied by hand. So we also had to have a large inventory of rubber stamps, too.”

When Luvaas was asked about the priorities for glove packaging, he said that product protection, a distributor shelf container, and more automated packing to reduce labor and gain more output were of importance.

“Now,” Luvaas says, “we have the same output, but we do it with one full-time and one part-time person. Even more important, we have the flexibility to increase our output threefold, to approximately 2걄 dozen pairs by adding another 1½ workers. So, in essence, we could triple our original production with this equipment and use two fewer workers than before!”

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