Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries. Click to learn more.

Quick-change comes to trays, cases

Versatility and quick changeover in erecting cases and trays was the missing piece to the puzzle when it came to this cup-filling line at Leahy Orchards. Solution: Trayfecta.

HOT-FILLED CUPS. Once cups emerge from hot-filling and lidding, they’re encased in paperboard sleeves and then robotically placed in corrugated trays.
HOT-FILLED CUPS. Once cups emerge from hot-filling and lidding, they’re encased in paperboard sleeves and then robotically placed in corrugated trays.

Founded in 1980 and now capable of processing an average of 225,000 kg of fruits and vegetables daily, Canada’s Leahy Orchards has become a leading supplier of apple sauce, mixed fruit purees, and fruit and vegetable purees for newborns. In addition to its own Applesnax brand, the firm is a huge producer of private-label brands.

In its Franklin Centre, Quebec, plant, Leahy recently added a missing piece of equipment to its single-serve cup line: a Trayfecta S4 1501 single-head former from Delkor. This machine can function as a corrugated case or tray former one minute and a paperboard carton former the next, which makes it perfectly suitable for meeting the rapidly changing needs of today’s retailers.

On the Leahy line, 4-oz premade cups are filled, put into paperboard sleeves, robotically packed in corrugated trays or cases, and palletized. About three years ago a number of highly automated packaging systems were introduced to this line. Retained, however, was a rather dated machine used to erect corrugated trays and cases. Eventually, its limitations became a problem, says Brent Frier, Vice President Production and Engineering.

“When you handle as many private-label brands as we do, your packaging equipment has to readily accept multiple formats,” says Frier. “The erector we had just wasn’t up to it. With this new machine we get not only better changeover and control, but also the kind of repeatability and reliability we were missing.”

Frier says the Trayfecta at Leahy doesn’t currently have to contend with any paperboard cartons. But it has to cope with six different corrugated tray sizes and four corrugated case configurations. One reason the Trayfecta can go from one size to another so quickly is that much of what’s involved in a changeover is done automatically with a big assist from three servo motors. The machine’s Rockwell control platform includes a ControLogix PLC, Panel View Plus 700 HMI, and Kinetix 5500 servo drives.

Annual Outlook Report: Automation & Robotics
What's in store for CPGs in 2025 and beyond? Packaging World editors explore the survey responses from 118 brand owners, CPG, and FMCG Packaging World readers for its new Annual Outlook Report.
Download
Annual Outlook Report: Automation & Robotics
Pharmaceutical Innovations Report
Discover the latest breakthrough packaging technologies shaping the pharmaceutical sector. This report dives into cutting-edge innovations, from smart containers that enhance patient safety to eco-friendly materials poised to transform the industry’s sustainability practices. All from PACK EXPO. Learn how forward-thinking strategies are driving efficiency and redefining what’s possible in pharma packaging.
Learn More
Pharmaceutical Innovations Report