Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Superior Dairy: Blow molding of plastic milk bottles

At this Ohio dairy manufacturer, one floor above the filling line, HDPE bottles are blown and flash is trimmed. Then bottles are transported through a pneumatic tube to a bagging machine.

May 31, 2002

Dairy: Page 67

Filling/capping, liquid & viscous

Superior Dairy: Filling/capping for dairy products

Superior's 16-valve electronic weigh filler and eight-head capper are enclosed in a HEPA-filtered room.

May 31, 2002

Secondary Packaging

Superior Dairy: Stretch bundling of diary products

On Line Two, counter-rotating roll carriers on this stretch bundler stretch the film 150% as bundling is completed

May 31, 2002

Secondary Packaging

Superior Dairy: Robotic palletizing

The end effector on the robotic palletizer lifts and places slip sheets as well as layers of bottles.

May 31, 2002

Dairy

Metal detector

Eriez (Erie, PA) offers the user-friendly E-Z Tec® DSP metal detector with an electronic design that combines a 4”x5” touchscreen interface with advanced digital signal processing to provide detailed analysis and reporting.

May 31, 2002

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Distributors remain big factor in purchases (sidebar)

Are distributors valued?

May 31, 2002

Cartoning

Double vision for pizza improves

On three frozen pizza lines, Frozen Specialties upgrades to six Ethernet-linked machine-vision systems to check for damaged pizzas and unsealed carton flaps. See in-plant video

May 31, 2002

Beverage

Special equipment for a special concept

Custom blow molding, electronic net-weigh filling in a HEPA-filtered enclosure, robotic palletizing—it all helps Superior Dairy succeed with caseless shipping. See in-plant video

May 31, 2002

Containers

Superior likes caseless shipping

This Ohio dairy manufacturer is rewriting the rules that govern distribution in the dairy industry. Caseless shipping is key. See in-plant video

May 31, 2002

Dairy

Winn-Dixie leverages its own brand name (sidebar)

Inside peek

May 31, 2002

Flexibles

Winn-Dixie leverages its own brand name

One-stop shopping provides Winn-Dixie with a comprehensive redesign for 60 private-label brands involving more than 3ꯠ items.

May 31, 2002

Flexibles

Aseptic carton moves organic milks

“Organic” milk—produced without the use of pesticides, synthetic hormones, or antibiotics—has been around for a while. But Horizon Organic of Boulder, CO, claims it’s the first to launch an organic flavored milk in a single-serve format: the Tetra Prisma aseptic carton from Tetra Pak (Vernon Hills, IL).

April 30, 2002

Closures

Shapely bottle pours into yogurt

For its new line of 10-oz drinkable yogurt, Stonyfield Farm is using a contoured high-density polyethylene bottle decorated with a full-body shrink-sleeve label.

April 30, 2002