Planters picks a packing line

Consumers are clearly fond of single-serve “tubes” of Planters nuts. An automated packaging line helps keep the nationwide pipeline full.

Planters' 'tubed' peanuts are sold at retail in colorful display cartons (above). Photo below left shows the carton infeed stati
Planters' "tubed" peanuts are sold at retail in colorful display cartons (above). Photo below left shows the carton infeed stati

Demand for single servings of nuts packed in plastic film has grown steadily in the last few years at Planters Specialty Co., a division of East Hanover, NJ-based Nabisco. Sold for less than a dollar each from display cartons at retail check-out counters, these tubed nuts, weighing between 1 ½ and 2 ½ oz, appeal to on-the-go snackers of all ages. They’re a big hit at mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart, so it’s no wonder Planters’ sales are surging.

Vertical form/fill/seal machines were an obvious solution for primary packaging of these products almost from the very beginning. But for a long time, secondary packaging remained a manual operation at the Fort Smith, AR, plant where the tubes are produced. That changed in January ’99, when an integrated system of automated machines was custom-designed and installed by Goodman Packaging (Lake Forest, IL).

“They worked with us to determine what we needed and then delivered the whole package,” says Ted Brown, engineering manager at the Fort Smith plant.

The “package” Brown refers to represents an investment of $1.7 million. Before the equipment was installed, the only automation consisted of two Rovema (Lawrenceville, GA) twin-tube vf/f/s systems each fed by a 14-head Ishida combination scale from Heat and Control (Hayward, CA). Their output was delivered to workers who erected, filled and closed tuck-style cartons. Case packing was done manually, as well.

The integrated system installed by Goodman freed up 10 workers for redeployment elsewhere in the plant. “It also boosted capacity by 50 percent,” says Brown. The system consists of the following:

• Carton erector

• Three dual-infeed, top-load carton packers

• Checkweigher

• Carton closer/gluer

• Case erector

• Case packer

• Case taper.

Two cartoners, one frame

The Model PPR2 Plus dual-infeed carton packers are perhaps the most intriguing components. Each machine is two cartoning systems within a single frame. In each machine, two robotic heads pick and place three bags of nuts at a time into a waiting carton. The bags vary in size slightly, but essentially they’re about 8” long and 2” in diameter. Cartons are in three sizes: 8”x7 ¾”x4 ¼”, 9”x7 ¾”x4 ¼”, or 8 5/8”x5 ¼”x4 ¼”. The first two hold 18 bags of nuts each, the last one holds 12.

The ability to handle these carton varieties and to change easily from one to another was a critical consideration, says Brown.

“We’re a just-in-time-type company reacting to customer orders much faster than most companies,” says Brown. “So we’re forced into changeovers on a regular basis. On the Goodman equipment, it’s close to tool-free. Rapid-access bolts and locking levers are helpful.”

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