Increase packhouse profit

INCREASE PACKHOUSE PROFIT BY PROVIDING THE BEST QUALITY FRESH PRODUCE

 

By the time it reaches the packing process most products has
already been through a journey from the farm to sortation, grading and packaging. However, at the packing station everything changes. Product is often bounced from conveyor to conveyor and then onto a circulating packing table where products bump into each other. The product is then picked up by human hands and dropped into a crate. The crate is then unceremoniously placed onto a pallet for removal to the warehouse. All that investment in pre-processing only for the finished packed product to be thrown into a crate.
Effective automation ensures that the product is gently picked up post flow wrap, tray seal or vertical form fill bagging process and gently placed onto the crate with no damage and no human handling.

Reduce packhouse costs using the Producepak packhouse solution to eliminate waste in the packing process.  Producepak packhouse app ensures expiring fresh produce is always monitored and sold prior to expiry. 

Producepak manages the FIFO of fresh produce during the dispatch process ensuring customers never receive low quality produce and fresh produce that is stored doesn't expire. 

INCREASE PACKHOUSE PROFIT BY PROVIDING THE BEST PRODUCT PRESENTATION POSSIBLE

Supermarkets are increasingly demanding a very high consistent
level of presentation of product in the crate; after all, this is what
the retail customer sees.  And where the customer buys their produce is where they will likely buy the majority of their retail shop. The fresh produce packhouse is therefore providing strategic product positioning for the retailer. The ability to demonstrate to your customer that your product ensures the consistency of presentation in the crate is therefore a genuine value add to the retailer. The critical element lies in providing precision accuracy when picking and placing product which can ensure superior presentation time after time regardless of the product. These systems will not get tired, get injured or need time off.
...The ability to demonstrate to your customer that your product ensures the consistency of presentation in the crate is a genuine value
add to the retailer. 

IMPLEMENT ALERTS TO REDUCE FRESH PRODUCE WASTE AND DECREASE SHRINKAGE 
Configure sophisticated alerts triggered by activities or occurrences in your packhouse.  The Producepak app sends alerts to packhouse team members when there is a quality issue, a delivery, a finished batch with unusual waste or pack-out ratio.  These packhouse alerts ensure inventory waste is minimized and any potential problems in the packhouse can be identified before they effect packhouse profitability. 

BECOME A LEAN AND FLEXIBLE FRESH PRODUCE PACKING OPERATION

Fresh produce is a booming sector with more people eating more product every day.  To meet this demand growers and suppliers are
developing new and differentiated products in new and differentiated packaging. Shoppers might complete a shop from a major store once
a week and then top up with fresh fruit and convenience foods from a local store. A visit might be replaced with an online order. All of
these options can mean different product and packing formats. E.g. A local supermarket may require small amounts of products in smaller
packs in an urban area catering to singles/couples.

Additionally the current focus on packaging and the environment means that packaging is likely to continue to transform over time with more bio-degradable technologies being deployed.
Key to the future success is to be able to handle this variety of products and packs at short notice and at high speed. Product packaging will change in format and size and presentation
of packs in layers will also change.

Whilst automation cannot beat manual dexterity at a given moment in time, it can clearly win over continuous repetition of the same movements over a prolonged period of time.

The key to effective automation lies in the flexibility to use the same components for multiple products with the capability to auto
adjust to different pack sizes and layer formats. Thus a single automation machine can handle multiple applications over its lifetime. This flexibility to cater for as yet unknown future requirements combined with consistency of speed and performance not only ensures a high OEE and level of future proofing, but also demonstrates to clients a commitment to invest in the future.

The key to effective automation lies in the flexibility to use the same components for multiple products with the capability to auto adjust to different pack sizes and layer formats.


INCREASE PACKHOUSE PROFIT WITH AUTOMATED TRACEABILITY SYSTEMS
Strict traceability is essential for the profitability of your packhouse.  The Producepak Packhouse solution ensures your traceability is being automatically recorded in detail throughout every fresh produce handling process in the packhouse. 

The solution tracks traceability from the moment a fresh produce purchase order is issues, incoming deliveries are labelled and additional traceability can be captured during this process, batch based packing ensures absolute traceability by scanning inventory into batches or selecting specific inventory from lists.  Dispatch processes record the exact produce that is sent to each customer ensuring traceability both up and down the fresh produce supply chain. 

ACCURATE AND VERIFIABLE PRODUCT INFORMTION THRU THE CHAIN-TRACE SYSTEM

A permanent concern on the packing line is that the right product is in the right pack with the right traceability and date information.
Penalties and fines are imposed along with loss of reputation at the slightest error. Automation technology can ensure that the right product is in the right packaging at the right weight with the correct number of fruit every time, dynamically throughout a run.
This is increasingly important as packs are often near identical in format for products to multiple different customers.

INCREASE PACKHOUSE PROFIT WITH A STRICTLY MANAGED PACKING PROCESS
Managing the packing process is paramount to ensure maximum packhouse profitability.  Producepak ensures the exact quantities of fresh produce are packed for each order, guaranteeing no over-pack or waste caused by errors in the packing process.  Ultimately, this reduces fresh produce waste, and reduces costs associated with unnecessary repacking of fresh produce.   Any waste in the fresh produce packing process is accountable and immediately reported to management when a batch has completed its packing process.  Producepak ensures FIFO of inventory put into a batch, and also ensures accurate recording of all batch outputs (finished, packed products).  


INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF YOUR PACKHOUSE'S OPERATIONS
How can we maximize output in the shortest possible time at
the lowest possible unit cost without compromising on quality?
As labor is the biggest single cost in most pack houses, the
answer must lie in automation. But automation must have the
flexibility described earlier in order to deliver effective return
on investment over many years of hard work.  OEE (Overall machine effectiveness) can be dynamically monitored
across an entire line. Do not necessarily believe what one machine
on the line tells you because what matters is not the line speed
on the HMI screen but the actual number of products that go into
each crate and onto each pallet at the end of the line; per shift,
per hour and per minute.  Good implementation of OEE provides genuine
performance measures from which to improve.  Simple systems can be implemented to monitor all of the key processes and provide dynamic reporting on the relative performance of each line. This then provides reporting information enabling the identification and removal of bottlenecks in the process. This can also be displayed visually in overhead screens to monitor performance and encourage improvements and development of a team ethos.