Multipacker boosts seafood company's productivity up to 75%

Chicken of the Sea installs new multipacker and two tray shrink packers that provide changeover versatility, operate at 95%-plus efficiency, and have resulted in a 20% reduction in manpower.

Pw 61059 Chicken

Seafood canning company Chicken of the Sea International is among the many companies responding to the multipack trend sweeping the grocery aisles. The California-based company, which in 2014 is celebrating its 100th anniversary as an American food icon, decided it needed to add a bundling machine that could shrink-wrap multiple cans into a package at its Lyons, GA, plant.

After reviewing the available options, Chicken of the Sea opted for the 597 Tritium multipacker with Robo-Wand™ wrapping module, and 296 Continuum tray shrink packers, manufactured in the U.S. by Standard-Knapp. The new equipment lets Chicken of the Sea adapt to the particular pack styles required by various customers. Now the company reports that its new packaging equipment has helped increase production on the line by 50% to 75%, while reducing machine downtime significantly. 

Responding to new grocery trends
Chicken of the Sea, a provider of shelf-stable seafood, including tuna and salmon, opened a domestic canning operation in 2009 at a 200,000-sq-ft facility in Lyons. The plant employs 350 people and produces about 36,000 cases of product a day.

Over time, a larger and larger proportion of the product was being packaged into shrink-wrapped multipacks, in response to industry trends. The plant had originally outsourced that capability but eventually reached the point where it needed its own bundling machine to shrink-wrap a range of multipacks on a new high-speed packaging line it was installing. Indeed, as part of its centennial marketing program, Chicken of the Sea expects strong sales of its tuna four-packs, which are highlighting a $1 million giveaway to deserving nonprofits across the U.S.

As Jim Cox, Vice President of Operations for Chicken of the Sea, explains, “The industry has gone to multipacks in a big way, and we had to find a machine that could provide us what we needed to meet our customers’ needs, including the four-pack that has become popular in grocery stores, as well as six-, 10- and 12-packs.”

Cox was looking for a local source with equipment that was strong enough to do what he needed. He reviewed the options by attending PACK EXPO and talking to personal contacts in the close-knit tuna industry. After narrowing the options to three main contenders that were robust enough for his production line, he ultimately selected Standard-Knapp, a company known for supplying the first tray packers to the tuna canning industry in the 1980s. “I had already used one of the machines in the tuna canning industry and had done well with it, which reduced the risk of buying a machine that may or may not work.”

The equipment selected was the 597 Tritium multipacker with Robo-Wand wrapping module, and two traditional Continuum 296 tray shrink machines. Before making the decision, Cox visited a plant that had installed the Standard-Knapp equipment, along with Plant Engineering Manager Larry Hightower, PE, who is responsible for managing the plant’s capital projects and maintenance. They ran tests of Chicken of the Sea products and had the opportunity to see the equipment in action.

“Their equipment met both speed and cost requirements, is built for 24/7 operations, and is extremely strong,” notes Cox. What’s more, Cox liked the fact that the equipment is manufactured in the U.S with U.S. components, which he considers important, because he had dealt with both European and Asian packaging equipment in the past and found it difficult and expensive to get parts and service people. He also liked the fact that Standard-Knapp is an employee-owned company, with all its employees totally committed to putting out a quality product.

Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report
Annual Outlook Report: Sustainability
The road ahead for CPGs in 2025 and beyond—<i>Packaging World</i> editors review key findings from a survey of 88 brand owners, CPG, and FMCG readers.
Download Now
Annual Outlook Report: Sustainability