A new report commissioned by the industry association, Food and Beverage Ontario, details an exciting and innovative partnership between Harpak-ULMA and Maple Leaf Foods, the largest producer of prepared poultry and meats in Canada. The case study (on pages 31-35 of the report) explores the initiative — which builds on Harpak-ULMA’s existing partnerships with Rockwell Automation and PTC to pilot innovative packaging solutions that utilize Augmented Reality and remote performance monitoring technologies. The pilot, which was started in May 2021, is expected to be in full production in October. The objective is to evaluate the impact of the solutions on endemic industry challenges, such as labor retention, employee training, technical skills scarcity, and the health and safety risks associated with COVID-19. One of the central success metrics is the achievement of consistent, world-class OEE (80%+). Improving OEE in high-volume production environments typically drive substantial revenue and profit gains.
