Project Overview
A leading beverage manufacturer needed to increase variety pack production to meet growing demand from big box retailers. Its existing manual packaging process had become increasingly difficult to sustain at higher production volumes.
The project involved engineering and integrating a new automated variety pack packaging line to replace the manufacturer’s manual process. Successfully automating the process required more than replacing manual labor. It required integrating specialized equipment, controls, and downstream packaging operations to eliminate one of the most labor-intensive stages of variety pack production and unlock higher throughput.
The Problem
Labor-Intensive Variety Pack Assembly
Before automation, variety packs were assembled manually. Operators unloaded bottles from single-flavor trays, sorted products, and assembled finished variety packs. The process depended on approximately 20 to 24 temporary workers, making production labor-intensive, difficult to sustain, and inherently inconsistent.
Throughput Constraints
The manual process had become a bottleneck, limiting the manufacturer’s ability to meet customer demand. The manufacturer needed a more efficient way to assemble variety packs at scale. The manual process had reached its limit.
IPM’s Solution
Automating Variety Pack Assembly
To automate variety pack assembly, IPM specified a Douglas Machine Prisma unloader that automatically removed bottles from single-flavor trays and organized them for downstream packaging. Replacing the manual unloading process eliminated one of the most labor-intensive stages of variety pack production and created the foundation for higher throughput.
Integrating the Complete Packaging Line
Downstream of the Prisma unloader, IPM engineered and integrated the packaging line by coordinating conveying, buffering, accumulation, labeling, date coding, palletizing, stretch wrapping, and controls into one unified system.
IPM’s OEM-neutral approach enabled the integration of equipment from multiple suppliers and allowed IPM to specify the equipment and technologies best suited to the manufacturer’s product mix, operating requirements, and long-term performance goals.
Following Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), IPM led installation, startup, commissioning, and operator training, working with equipment suppliers to validate system performance under production conditions prior to full production.
The Result
The completed packaging line transformed a labor-intensive variety pack process into a fully integrated automated operation. By coordinating specialized equipment, conveying, controls, and downstream packaging, IPM eliminated a major bottleneck and increased production capacity.
Following the successful implementation of the initial project, the manufacturer selected IPM to implement the integrated solution at two additional facilities, ultimately installing three integrated variety pack lines.
Ready to Automate
Your Variety Pack Line?
Explore how IPM engineers integrated packaging lines that eliminate manual bottlenecks and scale to meet growing demand.