Popcorn company upgrades filling operations

PLC controls and servo drives improve fill speeds and accuracies.

Pw 5707 Spee Dee Multiheadpopcorn

The Popcorn Factory, Inc., Lake Forest, IL, specializes in the marketing of a variety of fresh-popped, flavored popcorns in metal canisters (obtained from multiple canister suppliers). To upgrade packaging operations, the company installed two new servo-driven, PLC-based triple-hopper volumetric filling machines from Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery, Inc. (www.spee-dee.com) in September. These machines handle various popcorn canister sizes from 2 to 6.5 gal.

Alan Petrik, chief operating officer of The Popcorn Factory, says, “We replaced our existing Spee-Dee fillers with these new machines. One of the existing machines was more than 25 years old. We stuck with Spee-Dee equipment because we have enjoyed the simplicity and ease of operation.” The new machines, which offer PLC control from Rockwell (www.rockwellautomation.com) and servo drives from Bosch Rexroth (www.boschrexroth-us.com) yield greater filling accuracy and speed, says Petrik.

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