Automated Conveyors Newsletter

When Jasper Wyman & Son of Cherryfield, Maine, a nationally-known blueberry processor, was looking to revamp their retail and bulk packing operations - they knew they needed a manufacturer they could rely on who could design stainless steel feed conveyers to meet this massive undertaking. And they knew that Wrabacon was their solution to ensure a successful outcome.

Since 1986, Wrabacon has been successfully serving a variety of industries throughout the United States providing creative packing and conveyor systems that rival that of its competitors.

Although it was a large-scale project for Wymans, working quickly and efficiently would help alleviate downtime to their packing operations. Since they had only five months between February to June 2007 to complete the project, a manufacturer like Wrabacon was a company they could trust to provide them with equipment that met all their specifications.

"Some of the pieces of equipment in this line had to be custom designed in order for us to keep our lines compact, but still increase our productivity. The team of engineers at Wrabacon met with us and listened to our ideas and objectives and worked closely with us to find the solutions that worked best for us. I was impressed by their ability to keep our project on track and move it from engineering and into production in a relatively short period of time. Their expertise and professionalism contributed to the overall success of our project." Remarked Bob Stanley, Wyman's Director of Engineering

For the Wyman project, Wrabacon manufactured two custom stainless steel feed conveyors which were designed to receive frozen blueberries and transport them to the combination scales for packaging. Specifications called for the conveyors to be designed and built for ease of cleaning and sanitation, and were manufactured in stainless steel with wash down components.

The packing process may sound simple, but reliability of the equipment and ease of use for operators was essential to having packing operations run smoothly and efficiently.

Once the berries are packaged either in a stand-up pouch or pillow-pack, they required inclined conveyors, which Wrabacon also provided, that transported the bags to the combination metal detectors and check weighers. The packages were then transferred to a short Wrabacon inclined conveyor that feeds the product onto a custom-designed stainless steel re-circulating pack off table designed to be ergonomically safe for operators to manage manual case packing.

Wymans packing process formerly allowed for only a single bag line to run at any one time. Now they can run the two bag line at the same time.

The new packing line allows for up to 4 packing staff to remove incoming product on the top level each of the pack off table, and pack cases on a shelf located at a lower ergonomic position. Once the case is filled with product cases are manually pushed forward on a low level conveyor and sent to the case top taper.

Our objective at the end of the day-and at the end of any project is customer satisfaction, explains Robert Bartlett, Jr., VP of Engineering. We pride ourselves on continually designing and manufacturing equipment that exceeds our customer's expectations, making them a customer for life.