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'Girl' powered for new markets

Clabber Girl fills and case-packs pails in a compact, cost-saving operation.See video

The Delisheries brand fund-raising products packaged on the line result from an acquisition Clabber Girl made in 2003.
The Delisheries brand fund-raising products packaged on the line result from an acquisition Clabber Girl made in 2003.

Clabber Girl Corp., Terre Haute, IN, has been in business across three centuries. The venerable company’s latest packaging improvement will help introduce its products to new markets.

This modernized packaging matchmaker is in the form of a compact, U-shaped tub- or pail-filling and case-packing line currently used for products packed for fund-raising efforts. Soon the line will be used for club store accounts as well, according to Ed Wilkins, Clabber Girl’s executive director of plant operations.

In replacing a manual operation, Wilkins says the automated line boosts productivity and reduces changeover time in the plant. The case packer, from TAD Packaging Machinery, has also produced source reduction and materials savings.

“What prompted me to look at automatic case packing was the fact that we had several people on the production line and that production efficiency was low,” says Wilkins. “That caused restrictions for our ability to operate other production lines. We have reduced the number of employees for this function from a maximum of five to a maximum of two now. Our productivity has risen 40%.” Also, throughput nearly doubled. Those factors combined to produce a one-year payback, Wilkins says.

Wilkins points out that it is essentially a one-operator arrangement with the exception of the occasional ingredients packet that needs to be manually inserted into the pails for certain recipes.

Wilkins relied on distributor BelCorp for its expertise in machinery selection and service, though Clabber Girl installed the machinery itself. He also appreciates the vision and backing of Clabber Girl’s chief operating officer and president Gary Morris that made the line possible.

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