Bacardi Bottling in Jacksonville, FL, bottles all domestic Bacardi rum for the U.S., as well as for some overseas markets. A portion of Bacardi Bottling’s business involves packaging miniature 50-mL polyethylene terephthalate bottles sold on major airlines and in liquor stores across the country. These bottles are filled, capped and placed in 16-pt SBS 10-pack cartons.
Until a year ago, Bacardi had been using a case packer that was only capable of packing 10-count round bottles of two rum flavors, light and dark 1862. The other flavors, Limón, Spice and Select, use oval- or rectangular-shaped bottles. Those 10-packs are either larger or smaller than the round-bottle 10-packs. Limón, Spice and Select had to be manually case packed.
This setup was becoming more and more inefficient due to an increase in the number of bottles to be packed and the high labor costs inherent in hand-packing, says Keith Prouty, plant engineer at Bacardi. It was clear to Prouty that the company needed to find a more versatile case packer that allowed for easy changeover to accommodate the differently sized 10-packs.
Versatility is key
From the beginning, Prouty knew he wanted a case packer from R.A. Pearson (Spokane, WA). “We talked to different companies that use Pearson machines, and everyone spoke highly of the company,” he says. “We went with [Pearson] because of the equipment’s reliability and its reputation in the marketplace.”
The model selected by Bacardi was a VersaPack™ VP-35 case packer. Prouty says he test-ran every 10-pack dimension on the VersaPack at Pearson’s Spokane headquarters before the machine was shipped to Bacardi’s plant in Jacksonville. “When we brought it back, we had few adjustments to make,” Prouty says. “We set up the machine, started it up, and it ran fine.”
Most important to Bacardi, the VersaPack is a versatile machine that permits 10-minute, no-tool changeovers. Changing over the machine for a new 10-pack requires manipulating only handles and quick-release knobs. The machine has a clearly marked corresponding digital indicator for each 10-pack.
The packaging line for the 50-mL bottles runs sporadically, based on market demand. “We could run the 1862 rum for a couple weeks, then switch over to the Limón for a week,” Prouty explains. “How long we run it in a day varies. Sometimes we may run it all three shifts, sometimes we may not run it for a week.”
At the beginning of the line, the mini-PET bottles are placed in an unscrambler, then conveyed through an air rinser and into the filler and capper. After capping, the bottles are split into two lanes that enter a “clusterpack” machine. The machine separates the bottles into two lanes of five and wraps the 10 bottles in an open-ended neck-through paperboard carton.
Until October, Bacardi had been using a paperboard carton that wrapped around the entire length of the bottles. Prouty says he switched to the neck-through carton to better secure the bottles during case packing and shipment. Plus, the smaller paperboard carton saves the company about $38귔/yr, he says. Malnove Inc. of Florida (Jacksonville, FL), offset-prints the carton in three colors plus an aqueous coating.
The filled cartons are directed into two lanes before heading to the VersaPack case packer. At the load station, overhead pneumatic clamps separate the accumulated 10-packs into a group of 12. Meanwhile, a flat case blank is picked out of the horizontal magazine and erected into opposing flight lugs using a pivoting vacuum arm fitted with vacuum cups.
The erected case is conveyed to the loading station. Loading gates hold open the flaps of the case, and a load ram pushes the 12 cartons into the case. The minor flaps on both sides of the case are then closed simultaneously. As the case is transferred to the sealing station, hot melt glue is applied to the minor flaps, the major flaps are closed over the minors using stationary plows, and the flaps are compressed using a pneumatic ram. The VersaPack operates at 12 ? cases/min.
Cases are conveyed from the case packer to a new HK Systems/Von Gal (Montgomery, AL) UVG 2200 palletizer, which loads a pallet with 110 to 120 cases. The pallet is then conveyed to an automatic stretch wrapper with an overhead spiral arm. A forklift operator delivers the pallets from the stretch wrapper to the warehouse. Pallets are shipped by truck to Bacardi’s customers.
Mission accomplished
Although unable to quantify labor savings, Prouty estimates production is about 5% faster since the case packer was installed. He goes on to say that cost savings and improved efficiency are just as important to him as the machine’s versatility that allows it to handle the various 10-pack sizes. For example, the new Tropico flavor was easily accommodated by the case packer.
Prouty is especially satisfied with R.A. Pearson’s customer service. “This is the first Pearson [machine] we’ve had in the facility, and everything has gone well with it,” he says. “[Pearson] is very responsive.”
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