Addressing Inefficiencies in Handling and Packaging Across All Operational Sectors
With supermarkets competing to give the best prices on fresh produce and current inflation supporting fresh vegetable sales, packers need to look at every aspect of their operations to find inefficiencies.
Packers need solution providers to evaluate their operations and leverage their experience managing the whole supply chain – from the grower to the supermarket – to secure or maintain contracts. It all comes down to producing high-quality goods at the appropriate time and location and keeping a profit by managing the crop with care and economy, using the least amount of labor and inputs of resources like water and power.
To guarantee that potatoes are treated gently throughout the harvest, storage, and transportation processes, packers and producers must work together. Even with the most advanced and effective packhouse, if the potatoes are harmed before they are delivered, losses are unavoidable. Packers can reduce these risks by looking into the procedures used to gather potatoes from fields and the circumstances surrounding their transportation and unloading at arrival.
In the past, packers would frequently leave their machines set up with film to perform a repeat stock-keeping unit (SKU) the next day, leaving the lines idle after an order was completed on a particular day. This wasn’t as big of an issue when labor was less expensive and employees could move from one line to another.
These days, packers feed a packing robot often with very efficient weighers linked with vertical form-fill machines that allow for fast film changes. The goal of this kit’s integration is to function harmoniously as a whole to increase line efficiency, which is expressed in packs or bags per minute.
Introducing the RotaTip PRO: A New Era of Technology
Haith has introduced the RotaTip PRO and an innovative box stacking module in addition to the Quanta Fill box filler, which was unveiled at the U.S. Potato Expo in January 2024.
The Quanta Fill has a unique in-feed conveyor that gently layers the crop into a buffer bunker, which is subsequently lowered into the box. The active discharge doors then open, transferring the crop into the box and lifting it as it fills. The technique guarantees that the box’s weight is never raised and that the machine is not put under pressure, reducing fatigue and preventing damage to both the machine and the box. The new box handling feature enables the operator to load stacks of empty boxes into the machine, which are then automatically de-stacked and transferred to the filling module. After filling, the boxes are re-stacked so that the operator may remove them from the line.
“Haith is also offering box stacking and de-stacking as part of its 2024 RotaTip box tippler upgrades,” according to a recent press release.
The company’s revolutionary box stacking and de-stacking capabilities are available as add-on modules for the RotaTip PRO box tippler, considerably speeding up the box handling process and reducing forklift movements.
You can read the rest of this article in your complimentary e-copy of Issue 2 of Potato Business Dossier 2024, which you can access by clicking here.
