Resources

The dawning of the New Year doesn’t mean an end to last years’ challenges for tortilla producers. They face the same storm of issues from the lack of continuity in the supply chain to the limited supply of raw materials and the growing fear of the Coronavirus’ new variant spreading to human employees in plants…

Manual labor is still a part of modern tortilla production. Packagers at all production levels employ human operators to fulfill most stacking, filling, and closing operations using soft, wicketed polyethylene bags and semi-automated equipment. Many cite the historically lower up-front costs of a labor-centric system and inexpensive materials over packaging robots, system automation, and improved…

Consumers say sustainability, not Styrofoam, should be poultry packaging’s new status quo Packaging for mass-produced poultry has not seen significant change in over 30 years. For more than three decades, many of the top producers in the nation have relied on overwrapped polystyrene foam trays to preserve food and transport goods to market. These non-recyclable…

Josh Becker, bakery and confection product manager for Harpak-ULMA Packaging, dives into how smart manufacturing technology is driving innovation in the industry with Joanie Spencer, editor-in-chief of Commercial Baking.

Learn how to prevent bottle necks in your baking line. Hear from our Bakery and Confectionary Segment Manager, Josh Becker, as he discusses automated tote and basket management systems with Commercial Baking in this informative Tech Talk!

Tight Bag Technology

Learn more about Rockwell Automation’s collaboration with Harpak-ULMA in our latest Innovation Spotlight, and see how this machine maker’s digital transformation strategy uses the IIoT and AR to expand what’s possible for both it and its end users. For packaging OEM Harpak-ULMA, the value of digital transformation is in its ability to help end-users better…

Consumers are endlessly hunting for healthier tortillas in today’s marketplace. As freshness, nutrition, and a shorter ingredients list become “must-haves” with Gen Z and Millennials, the drive to know what is in the tortillas is taking center stage. This focused buyer behavior also has producers reimagining the ways their tortillas are processed, packaged, and marketed…

There are several costs, savings, and value adding components to evaluate when considering a new automation project. We’ve written about the value of automation and how to justify automation in your plant, but this article will break down some of the more tangible costs you should budget for outside of the packaging line itself.  Ancillary…

Building a business case for implementing automation on your packaging line is no easy task. The project is a large investment, and like any other business investment, it needs to be justified.   In many cases, this justification includes a strong financial return on investment. While that’s important to calculate, the increasingly strategic nature of automation…