Packaging: Palletizer and stretch hood lead to rise in productivity

For more than a century, Bay State Milling has provided flour and grain products to many of the largest multi-national companies. The company recently upgraded its Clifton, N.J., plant, installing a new bagging line that increased the plant’s production by nearly 30%.

Previously, an older palletizer and earlier-generation pallet stretch wrapping equipment were unreliable and not easily adaptable. The company planned to increase palletizing speed to match an increased bagging rate. It also needed a reliable palletizing and packaging platform with minimal maintenance requirements.

“We wanted better pallet stack quality and a pallet packaging system with very high uptimes,” says Mike Carlson, Bay State’s plant manager. “With the old lines, we were operating at about 45% efficiency. With the new line, we’re producing 45,000 units a week in 55 to 58 hours, giving us close to 75% efficiency.”

The new line, which replaced two older lines, packages 25-, 50- and 100-pound bags of flour. Bagging rates range from 1,000 to 1,800 units per hour, with variations capable of handling 5,000 units per hour. And, the system supports a variety of bag and pallet sizes.

“If our customers need to stack pallets three or four high, they know they can do it with our product, because nearly every stack we put out is perfect,” Carlson says. “Best of all, we installed the packaging line in 19 days. The stretch hood system was designed around two modules that were brought in and assembled in one day.”

The stretch wrap system can process up to 115 pallets per hour, helping the plant increase production by nearly 30%. Film rolls are replaced once a week, and Bay State no longer needs to store chipboard for covering pallet tops.

Beumer Group
732-893-2800
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