Pouch-making at Yoshida was upgraded last August, when the firm installed a Ropak (Decatur, GA) system whose speed is 50% faster than the combined speed of the two machines it replaced. The new machine is accurate, too. "Everything is menu-driven through the PLC," says plant manager Eric Rinearson. "The pumps are driven by servo motors and are tightly controlled by the PLC. On the old systems, we had to rely on mechanical adjustments made by hand." Running 4- or 6-across for pouches containing 4 oz and 10-across on a 9-g soy sauce pouch, the machine cycles 54 times/min.
