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Addition by subtraction

Golden Flake doubles speeds and reduces labor costs for potato chip packaging by replacing 21 outdated lines with eight new vf/f/s machines. See in-plant video

Each of eight new vertical form/fill/seal machines like the one shown here can fill any of Golden Flake's potato chip varieties,
Each of eight new vertical form/fill/seal machines like the one shown here can fill any of Golden Flake's potato chip varieties,

The enthusiasm and camaraderie among Golden Flake employees was evident during Packaging World’s late-March visit to the Birmingham, AL-based snack maker. For example, one of the company’s workers, who packs bags into shipping cases, has worked there for 50 years, according to David Jones, vice president of operations. Management values employee loyalty and experience. What it can’t afford is aging, “experienced” equipment.

Before last October, Golden Flake used 21 vertical form/fill/seal machines to bag potato chips, which represent the bulk of the snack producer’s business. Many of those machines were eligible for 20- to 30-year service pins. “They were reliable, and they did a good job,” says Jones. “But we needed more speed and production. We also needed machinery that could produce a greater variety of bag sizes.”

Replacing them was a challenge in that it wasn’t until recently that Jones felt the new equipment was worth the investment. “From the eighties until a couple of years ago, there really hadn’t been any bagmaking equipment for snacks that would have enticed us to make a capital expenditure,” says Jones. “There was no overwhelming hook where we’d be able to save a lot of money to justify buying [such machinery].”

Jones says that Golden Flake considered three different high-speed machines to replace its aging units. “We visited several snack food manufacturing plants that had these machines,” he relates, saying “there’s an unspoken rule in the snack business that if you let people into your plant, you’re allowed to visit their plants.”

Golden Flake sought a vendor that could provide what Jones calls “a total solution” to its needs for high-speed production, computerized weighers, and important conveying equipment between processing and packaging. That combination of criteria left one supplier standing: Heat and Control (Hayward, CA), which provided the turnkey system.

The benefits

In October ’01, the company invested more than $2 million for eight Heat and Control Ishida Apex® bagmakers; Ishida Millennium multihead weighers; accumulating conveyors; and FastBack distribution, cross-feed, and chip-sizing conveyors. The eight machines operate in the potato chip packaging area. A ninth Apex/Millenium combo is used in a separate room for tortilla chip packaging. It took the place of two older machines.

“We took out the 21 older machines,” says Jones. “We discarded some of them, moved some to other areas of the plant where they upgraded older machines, and we also made use of some of their parts.”

The new machinery delivers significant advantages for Golden Flake. Among them:

• Double the speeds. Previous vf/f/s equipment functioned at 60 bags/min with the company’s smallest size, 1-oz chip bags; 13 bags/min with 20-oz packs, its largest size.

• Labor savings. Fewer machines operating more efficiently eliminated the need for 100 temporary workers.

• Flexibility. Each of the new machines can accommodate any of the company’s pack sizes. The former equipment was limited to certain size ranges.

• Reduced waste. The FastBack conveyors reduce chip breakage. Also, packaging film waste was trimmed from 15% to just under 5%, and product giveaway was reduced by at least 10%.

• Payback of less than three years.

Conveyor systems

In the potato chip packaging area, Golden Flake employs two fryers, each of which outputs 3겨 lb/hr.

Each fryer’s output is discharged and conveyed along one of two FastBack infeed conveyors to Minuteman belt accumulators that temporarily hold chips to help prevent downstream chip damage or backups at the scale systems. Flighted belt conveyors carry chips on an incline up to the mezzanine level where FastBack conveyors distribute the chips onto the scale systems.

Throughout the trip from the fryers to the scales, the FastBack conveyors use a horizontal motion that not only vibrates, but produces a “slow-forward” and “fast-backward” gliding motion that reduces product damage compared to standard vibratory conveyors.

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