Thermoform/fill/seal boosts meat production 200 percent

Maplewood Meats, a family-owned business specializing in award-winning cuts of beef, pork, sausages and smoked meats, has dramatically boosted its output by making a switch from its labor-intensive packaging process to an automated thermoform/fill/seal packaging system. After consulting with Multivac (www.multivac.com), a manufacturer of rollstock and other packaging solutions, the company was able to leverage thermoforming technology to not only alleviate operational challenges, but also to increase production by 200 percent. The integration also enabled the company to enhance the overall quality and consumer-friendliness of its packaging while strengthening its food-safety initiatives.

Roger Van Hemelryk and his wife, Patricia, founded Maplewood in Green Bay, WI, in 1983. With Roger working in a meat processing plant and Patricia being a butcher's daughter, the couple had the combined experience and passion to run their own business. Twenty-two years later, Maplewood successfully offers a wide variety of fresh-cut meats in more than 80 ft of full-service cases in its own meat market located near Green Bay.

Maplewood originally utilized a vacuum chamber system to package its savory products. The system required that company personnel place portion-sized meats into a preformed pouch and then accurately place the pouch on the machine to be vacuum-sealed and trimmed. The process was time-consuming, and the system would sometimes produce leaky packages, necessitating that the production cycle had to be repeated. "If you combined the amount of time it took us to package our products the first time and then add in the time for repackaging the faulty ones, the system was extremely time- and labor-intensive," says Van Hemelryk.

"The Multivac machine has made our everyday lives easier," he explains. "Our packages look first-rate with less work, and they convey the quality of the products we've been providing our customers for the last twenty-two years. Simply, the change to a Multivac machine has given us a better production process and a better package."

Maplewood spends a great deal of time focusing on the quality of its products, and the company did not feel the original system was producing a package that did justice to the product inside. The company decided to partner with Multivac to formulate a new strategy that would heighten the efficiency of its operation as well as the quality and attractiveness of its packages. Upon assessing the company's needs and current operation, Multivac's food packaging team recommended using a compact, tf/f/s rollstock system.

We are now packaging the same amount of product in three hours that would normally take a full nine- to ten-hour cycle. Our production speed has increased by 200 percent.

Within days of the integration, Maplewood noticed a considerable difference in its packaging. Product is easily loaded into customized compartments that are formed from a bottom web of roll-fed, flexible film that is heated and stamped. Then the machine's top web securely seals each package in-line.

TRAPPER'S CREEK uses a thermoform/fill/seal system to pack its smoked salmon. Read about it at www.packagingdigest.com/ info/trappers

With its new automated thermoforming technology, Maplewood has dramatically simplified its packaging process, boosted productivity and eliminated the problem with leakers. "We are now packaging the same amount of product in three hours that would normally have taken a full nine- to ten-hour cycle," remarks Roger Van Hemelryk. "Our production speed has increased by 200 percent."

Simplifying this process has also helped Maplewood move forward with its food-safety initiatives. By quickly placing product into the thermoformed sections, the amount of time the meat needs to be handled is minimized, and any opportunity for product to come into contact with machine components is eliminated. "I worry less about contamination because of the machine's engineering. The stainless-steel, washdown design really gives us peace of mind," says Roger Van Hemelryk.

The new system has also afforded Maplewood greater operational flexibility. With the company's expansive product line, it often needs to package more than one type of meat over the course of a production day. The quick and easy changeover procedure on the rollstock system enables plant personnel to change the plates, compartment sizes and appropriate films in roughly 10 minutes. Depending on the day, this switching can occur multiple times, making the simplicity of the changeover feature essential to minimizing downtime.

In addition to the many other benefits the tf/f/s machine has provided, the integration of the system into Maplewood's facility was accomplished quickly. "The computer system on the machine is user-friendly, so we picked up the technology in no time," says Van Hemelryk. "The Multivac technical team was knowledgeable and had us up and running in a few days."

The integration was not only beneficial to Maplewood, but also to its customers. The speed and accuracy of the new rollstock machine allows the company to sell a more compact and convenient package. To outweigh the material costs and time it took with the previous process, the company used to portion its products in 1-lb assortments to reach its cost-per-unit target. "The new system efficiently utilizes the packaging material so we can offer our customers more convenient half-pound portions," notes Van Hemelryk. "Customers appreciate the added value of our smaller packages."

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