That's a wrap! The case for quality at ConAgra
Hunt's Foods, the century old US-based tomato processor has just installed yet another piece of Kisters machinery, the 320/70 WrapAround Case Packer. Hunt's is a subsidiary of $27bn-a-year ConAgra Grocery Products, the US's biggest food processing company.
The purpose-built case packer will handle product from the eight production lines at Hunt's Newport, Tennessee plant, for which Kisters has been the main supplier of dry area packaging machines. In particular, the new case packer will handle the new, specially-shaped PET bottle that Hunt's will launch shortly for ketchup and barbecue sauces.
The relationship between Kisters, a leading maker of shrinkpackaging to the food industry, and Hunt's goes back 10 years, although Hunt's relationship with Kayat goes back even further. Andrew Neagle, President of Kisters Kayat, the German firm's Florida based-based US subsidiary, puts this down to a shared vision of quality and a willingness to work together to produce world-leading products. "Hunt's is a company with vision; so is Kisters. The relationship between Kisters and Hunt's is a true partnership. We develop a package together. Two visionary counterparts can only culminate in leadership throughout the market," he says.
At the Tennessee plant Hunt's has almost standardized on Kisters equipment for shrink-wrapping trays and multipacks. The reason isn't hard to find. Kisters was founded in 1957 by Karl Kisters to satisfy demand for packaging machinery that would produce repeatable results reliability for a long time. It became Kisters standard to build machines to close tolerances, maximum operational safety, low maintenance needs and maintenance-friendly design.
From its German headquarters, Kisters has expanded. It now supplies equipment from offices in Germany, France, UK, US and Brazil. The range includes shrink-film and board packaging systems for pads, trays, cartons and multipacks, as well as robot systems for palletizing.
The Kisters 320/70 WrapAround Case Packer installed at Hunt's Food's plant in Newport, Tennessee will wrap hot-filled PET ketchup bottles of various sizes at rates of more than 150 stock keeping units (skus) a minute. The packer has a special collating section to handle a new-shaped bottle.
Its flexibility allows different sizes of bottles to be put through the system at the touch of a button and the equipment is capable of multipacking. It can also wrap whole cases in shrink film, which is convenient for in-store displays.
"Kisters is looking forward to working with Hunt's to roll out this project nationwide and possibly even globally," says Mr. Neagle.
This article from Canning & Filling is the copyright of Sayers Publishing Group and reproduced with the publisher's permission.