INTRODUCTION

Do you really know what business you’re in? Think about it. Are you caught up in the day-to-day routine of doing things the way they’ve always been done? Have you taken the time to step back and look at the whole picture?

There are plenty of examples of industries that did not define their business. Some failed miserably and became extinct; others were able to adapt and go on.

The railroads were not doing well some years ago. They were railroad-oriented. They enjoyed the romance of the chug-chugging steam engine, the train whistle echoing from the hills, the striped bib overalls and caps of the engineers and fireman. They were railroad-oriented instead of transportation-oriented. Most importantly, they were not customer-oriented.

Railroads got wake-up call when cars, trucks, airplanes, and even telephones filled their customers’ needs and stole business from them. Railroads have fought back and survived by expanding their horizons. They introduced innovations such as:

• Piggyback for highway truck trailers
• Special cars for inter-modal containers
• Unit trains for coal transport from mine to power plant or port
• Dedicated high speed through freight trains to carry fresh lettuce from California to Chicago
• Guaranteed just-in-time delivery of automobile stampings from Illinois to assembly plants in Ohio, Michigan and Missouri

Some railroad companies took the attitude – “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” and began consolidating with organized trucking and airfreight subsidiaries.

Hollywood barely missed ruin when television came on the scene. Hollywood thought it was in the movie business when in fact it was in the entertainment business. Hollywood recovered only after recognizing that television is a new facet of the entertainment business that the movie studios are uniquely equipped to serve. Today’s Hollywood is a bigger industry than the old movie business ever was.

EXPAND OUR HORIZONS

The railroad and movie businesses succeeded because they looked beyond their previously narrow view of what their businesses were. They widened their horizons. They saw the forest and not just the trees. They redefined the scope of their business and expanded their outlook to meet the needs of their customers. Have you asked yourself:

• What is our desired end-result or product?
• Why are we doing things this way?
• Is there a better way?
• Is this going to be the way we will be doing things a few years from now?

Similarly we need to look beyond the nuts and bolts of the machinery of a packaging system and deal with the whole picture. We shouldn’t say “we do it this way because this is the way it has always been done.” We need to ask if there is a better way. We need to look, ask, listen and draw people out to get the full picture of the packaging task. We need to search out just what business we are in. We need to be sure that we are looking at a broad horizon.

Fundamentally, we are all probably in the business of providing a product that can be successfully transported and utilized by the end user. Our product may be pet food, chemicals, cement, computers, automobiles or even intellectual products like consulting services or teaching. Regardless of what it is, it must arrive at the point of use in good condition and in a manner that is economical, convenient and sometimes even esthetically pleasing to the user.

Systems for delivering our product to the user can be many different things. Fill dirt for highway construction needs only a dump truck and a road map for the driver. Perfume needs exotic packaging in order to compete at the point of sale.

SELECTING THE "RIGHT" PACKAGING SYSTEM

Selection of a packaging system is a multi-step process. Steps include consideration of:

• Product properties
• Packages suitable for the product
• Packaging equipment and systems capable of effectively and economically handling the product and the package.
• Effects of UPSTREAM processes and handling
• Effects of DOWNSTREAM storage, handling and transportation
• End user requirements and preferences
• Degree of complexity practical for plant skills and facilities
• Selecting system integrator
• Total packaging cost

Only by going through all of these steps can we arrive at the most practical and economical system to provide the end user the product he needs in the form that he can use. While all of the steps are important, we cannot even start to select the packaging equipment and system until we have completed the first two steps.

PRODUCT PROPERTIES

Product properties are extremely important. Some of the properties to consider include:

• Bulk density
• Density variability
• Particle size and shape
• Aeration of powdered products
• Flowability
• Fragility
• Range of different products/grades
• Chemical properties – corrosive, hygroscopic, etc.
• Hazardous properties – toxic, flammable, explosive dust, etc.
• Value

Once these properties are identified we can turn our attention to packages that will handle these properties, as well as the package purposes we need.

PACKAGES SUITABLE FOR THE PRODUCT

Purposes of a package may include:

• Protection
• Storing
• Shipping and handling
• Identification
• Display or advertising graphics
• Holding, containing

We need to identify which of these purposes apply to our product and its market. For example, inert plastic pellets for industrial use could be packed in a variety of packages that protect them from contamination and provide minimum identification information. Corrosive and hazardous products have special requirements that would limit the packaging options to relatively few choices.

Even with a single product, different markets may dictate specific packaging. For example, hydrated lime for municipal water treatment plants can be packed in a plain brown bag with minimum identification and no display or advertising graphics. But the same product sold in a lawn and garden store needs graphic printing to help sell the product, along with a strong package to withstand multiple handlings from the channels of distribution typically found in retail sale.

After the purposes of the package are defined, there is often a wide range of packaging options that can accommodate the needs of different users. Choices may include:

• Bags
• Semi-bulk containers or bulk bags
• Folding cartons
• Corrugated containers
• Drums
• Cans
• Bulk

SELECTING A PACKAGING SYSTEM

The practical choices depend to a great extent on the end users’ preferences and requirements. Some of the criteria for selecting the best choice of packaging equipment and systems include:

• Suitability for product and package
• Support of players/stakeholders
• Safety
• Environmental
• Quality
• Rate/throughput
• Reliability/productivity
• Flexibility
• Complexity
• Compatibility
• Cost

Once the first two steps of analyzing product properties and determining suitable packages are covered, it is time to look at packaging equipment and systems capable of handling the product and packages. At this time (if not earlier) all the players/ stakeholders who will be affected by any changes need to be involved in investigating and planning. The players/stakeholders include:

• Production management
• Operators
• Maintenance
• Plant management
• Marketing
• Sales
• End users
• Engineering
• Equipment vendors
• Systems integrators

Ask their opinions. Listen. Ask questions. Listen some more. Draw them out. Moderate conflicting interest. Use your political skills. You may not achieve consensus, but those that do not get everything they want will be more accepting if they have had their chance to voice their views and understand how the final decisions are reached.

Be aware that the wants of every player may not be satisfied. Most often, needs must be separated from wants if a practical and economical system is to be achieved. Marketing and sales may forecast volume growth and want the new packaging system to have capacity well above present capacity. Production management is concerned about peak needs and downtime, and may want to add another cushion to the capacity figure. Pile a few of these cushions on top of the other and the capital costs can become out of proportion to the needs. A system to pack 28 bags per minute may have a capital cost twice that of an 18 bag-per-minute system. Plant management will be concerned about having enough capacity, but they will also be concerned about the costs.

Operator and maintenance personnel can become frightened about the unknown if not brought in on what is being planned. They need to be included in visits to vendors’ locations to evaluate packaging equipment, and to plants currently using equipment that is being considered. They need to know that there will be training to enable them to become comfortable with the proposed system and its ownership.

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

Safety and environmental criteria are in some ways synonymous. Safety is everyone’s job. We all need a safe work environment. Not only is it the right thing, but if we don’t pay attention to safety, OSHA or MSHA will.

Machines need adequate guards, and electrical and pneumatic lockouts. Operator and maintenance personnel need training to use the guards and lockouts properly.

Beyond the packaging equipment itself, adequate lighting, a clean environment and comfortable temperature make for good worker morale and positive attitudes toward safe practices and pride in doing a good job.

RATE & THROUGHPUT

The system packaging rate needs to be defined in terms of a practical sustained rate – not the instantaneous maximum rate at which the system can be operated. Avoid running any of the components continuously at maximum capacity. We don’t run our cars continuously at full throttle and expect them to last very long.

Also consider downtime for product changeover, shift changes, clean-up and break time, lack of product from upstream of packaging system, glitches in downstream handling, etc. that cuts into production time.

RELIABILITY & PRODUCTIVITY

Realistic figures for the reliability and productivity of a packaging system need to be used.

For example, a packaging system may be capable of a maximum instantaneous rate of 15 bags per minute. The vendor may rate it as a 900 bag-per-hour packaging system (15 bags per minute x 60 minutes per hour). The inference is that it would produce 7,200 bags per 8-hour shift (900 bags per hour x 8-hour shift). In the real world, equipment will be more reliable and productive running at less than maximum – for instance, 12.5 bags per minute, and an average of about two-thirds of the total shift time. Average productivity becomes about 4,000 bags per shift – not 7,200 bags per shift (12.5 bags per minute x 60 minutes per hour x 8-hour shifts x 2/3). Occasionally productivity could peak near 6,000 bags per shift but the sustainable average would be less.

FLEXIBILITY

Flexibility becomes an important criterion when there are a number of different products, product grades and bulk densities, package sizes and weights. If there are several changeovers per shift, it becomes important to minimize the packaging line set-up time. Quick-change features that can be built into the packaging line may be well worth the extra investment.

COMPLEXITY

Be realistic about the degree of complexity that is practical for your plant facilities. This includes particularly the operator and maintenance skills currently available or committed to become available. A complex system that cannot be successfully operated and maintained is not a productive system.

COMPATIBILITY

The components of the system must be compatible with each other, with upstream processes, and with downstream handling. Take a system-wide approach to selecting the individual machine components of the packaging system. Select equipment not only for how well it handles the product and the package, but also for how well it meshes with upstream and downstream components. A system-wide outlook avoids imbalances that can result in jam-ups, product loss, downtime, poor package quality, etc.

A LOOK UPSTREAM

Look upstream to the production and handling of your product prior to packaging. Seek ways to attain:

• Consistent product density
• Consistent product flow
• Less dust
• Better bin design
• Adequate surge bin/silo storage capacity

Consistent product density minimizes the number of empty package sizes to be kept in inventory and the associated costs. Consolidating package sizes minimizes package cost, inventory and packaging-line changeovers.

Consistent flow enables the packaging equipment to operate at maximum weight accuracy, and consistent rates.

Minimizing particle sizes finer than needed enables the packaging operation to be less dusty. This results in a cleaner, safer workplace environment. Less dust can also be advantageous at the final point of use of the product by making the product safer and more desirable to work with.

Bin design should encourage mass flow of the product to the packaging equipment. This not only affects weight accuracy and productivity, but also segregation of coarse and fine particles and the resulting bulk density variations caused by segregation.

Adequate surge bin/silo storage capacity is important to minimize the number of changeovers that cut into the productivity of not only the packaging system, but also the productivity of the entire production stream.

A LOOK DOWNSTREAM

Look downstream beyond the package and the packaging system. The shrink- or stretch-wrapped pallet load of packaged product may look great as it comes from the end of the packaging line, but how will it fare after it leaves your facility? How severe is the handling? Rail shipments and loose shipboard handling can be rough. Some products end up on mule-back and need lots of protection.

Does your package fit the pallet properly? Does the package or pallet load of packages fit securely in the truck, railcar or intermodal container? If it loosely fills the space and is not protected by dunnage, it can be damaged.

What are the storage and handling characteristics of the warehousing/ transportation/distribution system? Considerations may include:

• Packaging run lengths
• Inventory volume
• Warehouse capacity
• Transport mode
• Number of handlings
• Outdoor exposure
• Length of storage

Packaging run lengths may need to increase if the packaging line set-up time becomes lengthy. A new, more automated line is likely to take longer to changeover than a manual line.

Extra run time increases inventory volume, which can strain existing warehouse capacity.

The mode of transport and number of handlings can have a significant effect on the ruggedness of the package required. A short trip from your plant directly to the user’s facility may allow using the minimum package construction sanctioned by the appropriate package classification committees. A more extensive warehousing/transport/distribution system may require a package several times as rugged and several times as costly to assure arrival in good condition. For example, outdoor exposure is common in construction, well-drilling, retail and farm fertilizer, and is used for temporary storage in some industrial plants. Packages can be protected by plastic pallet covers or plastic shrink or stretch hoods. It is possible to make a six-sided shrink or stretch hood that provides considerable protection from rain and snow as well as atmospheric moisture. Degradation of the plastic by sunlight limits its practical storage length.

Length of storage becomes most significant for products such as dried non-fat powered milk, which may be stored for several years in government price-support programs. Well-sealed barriers to atmospheric moisture, carbon dioxide, oxygen, etc., are needed to stop deterioration of many products – some even for short storage lengths.

SPECIFYING THE SYSTEM

There may be several choices to decide upon after going through all of the preceding points. In describing the needs to prospective suppliers keep the specifications very general. Keep the specifications performance-oriented, not hardware-oriented. Accept the help of prospective suppliers, but write your own specifications.

Try to avoid calling for a specific motor manufacturer, a specific programmable logic controller or a specific paint or other finish. Departing from the manufacturer’s standard can add significantly to cost.

Avoid the temptation to put the entire packaging system consisting of multiple machines – some from different vendors – on one programmable logic controller (PLC). Rewriting and integrating multiple programs into one controller invites lost time and high expense in getting the system up and running at start-up. A large central-system PLC may not be fast enough for some of the functions. Multiple PLCs on individual machines or groups of machines can come from the vendor with fully debugged and proven programs that can interface well within the entire system, saving time and cost at start-up.

Define the performance objectives. Communicate the order of importance of objectives that may be mutually exclusive. It may not be practical to expect minimum dust and spill, clean packages, minimum operator exposure to product, smallest (and least expensive) package, lowest operating cost, highest production capacity and most accurate package weights together. If high production rate is more important than clean packages and most-accurate weights, make that clear.

Be very open and informative about the product characteristics and use practical performance figures. Inform prospective suppliers of temperature range, humidity, vibration, product hazards, altitude, etc., so that their proposals can reflect your actual needs.

If possible, try to lay out a modular system that can be expanded for future needs with minimum investment. Consider trends in packaging of your product. Is the market for your product expected to move to different packaging in the near future? Is new technology on the horizon? Is it worthwhile to spend significant extra money for future expansion?

Recognize that specifications can’t cover everything any more than laws cover every eventuality of human behavior. There are loopholes, and some people will try to exploit them. Writing a tight specification is not a substitute for choosing your partners carefully. There are still people out there that will tell you what you want to hear to get the job and then not perform.

SYSTEM INTEGRATION

There is more to a packaging system than buying the best individual machine components and installing them in the correct physical relationships. They have to be integrated into a compatible, smooth-running whole. There are several options:

• Internally engineered
• Third-party-integrator engineered
• Single vendor engineered

Various combinations of the above are probably the most common.

The single vendor usually has the most knowledge of how to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The components that the vendor supplies that he does not make are usually familiar to him through previous experience. The vendor-engineering group collaborating with a limited number of internal engineers is a common arrangement.

Whichever direction is taken, it is important that the competence, experience and depth of staff of whoever is to do the system integration be evaluated. Go see some of their previous jobs. Talk to other users on the phone if you can’t actually see their work in person.

COST

Be aware of the cost factors, including:

• Package and other packaging supplies
• Operating labor
• Shipment and installation
• Energy
• Maintenance
• Training
• Spares
• Building space and services (capital cost, heat, light, etc.)
• Capital cost of equipment purchase
• Engineering
• Changes to upstream process, bins, etc.
• Downstream changes to warehouse, inventory level, etc.
• End users’ increased or decreased costs of handling

Evaluate the various options of packages and packaging systems to find the most practical and economical one for you and your end user.

OWNERSHIP

Ownership of the system is a critical step in the successful start-up of a new packaging system. Everyone from the plant manager on down must be active in taking over operating and maintaining the new system. Plan to take operating and maintenance people to the vendor’s shop to witness any demonstrations prior to shipment. Seeing is believing and contributes to a spirit of I can handle that.

Training at time of installation is important. Operating and maintenance training in classroom and hands-on-models build knowledge and confidence to further develop a spirit of ownership.

A short follow-up training session several weeks later has proven to be valuable in answering questions that arise as operators and maintenance people get into working with the system.

Take advantage of any training offered by the vendor at his shop. Such training provides opportunity for individual attention and contacts with experts on the vendor’s staff.