A leading product manufacturing company specializing in liquid fill, aerosol packaging, and personal care products faced a critical challenge in their packaging operations. Their existing process for handling 4-pack boxes was labor-intensive and inefficient, severely limiting their production capacity.

“We weren’t able to keep up. We were only able to do 26 boxes per minute at best. What we absolutely have to have is 40 boxes a minute. So we couldn’t do our process,” says the customer. They would try to assemble a bunch of boxes beforehand, so throughout the day, the original 26 boxes per minute were more of a supplement to what they’d already made, but they couldn’t store that many pre-made boxes.

The company realized that to remain competitive in the packaging industry and meet their production goals, they needed to automate their packaging process with a high-speed case erector.

However, their requirements presented a unique challenge: they needed packaging equipment capable of handling the smaller boxes that many manufacturers were unwilling to accommodate.

The company began their search for an automatic case erector that could handle their specific needs. They reached out to several case erector manufacturers, but they encountered several obstacles during this process.

First, most box case erectors on the market couldn’t handle the smaller box sizes required for their 4-pack products. Secondly, many equipment providers were unwilling to take on the challenge of designing a solution for their unique size range.

Even if they would agree to take the project on, the customer said they didn’t like the way competitor equipment was designed and engineered. Their componentry was sub-par, said the customer, with cheap materials.

After evaluating multiple options, the company contacted and ultimately partnered with Wayne Automation.

Wayne was the only manufacturer willing to take on the challenge of designing a case erector machine for smaller boxes, which immediately set them apart from the competition. The company was impressed by Wayne’s approach to design and engineering, which demonstrated a superior understanding of their needs. Wayne’s use of premium materials and components assured the company of the equipment’s durability and consistent performance, addressing their concerns about quality.

Throughout the sales process, the customer noted that Wayne’s team demonstrated exceptional responsiveness and communication. “What really impressed me more than anything else was that they stayed on schedule,” says the customer, a refreshing change in an industry often plagued by delays.

Wayne Automation provided a comprehensive solution to address the company’s packaging challenges. The solution included one WCE Case Erector, two VCE High-Speed Case Erectors, and one Case Inverter. This combination of packaging equipment was designed to handle the company’s specific requirements, including the ability to process smaller boxes at high speeds.

The implementation of Wayne’s automatic case erectors and related equipment yielded impressive results.

The company successfully achieved their minimum target of 40 boxes per minute, a significant improvement from their previous 26 boxes per minute. This increase in speed had a dramatic effect on their labor requirements, reducing the number of workers needed for the packaging process from 10 to just 1, resulting in substantial labor cost savings.

The new equipment allowed the company to keep up with their production line consistently, eliminating the need for pre-assembly and storage of boxes. They also experienced a notable reduction in friction, drag, and electrostatics (FDE), leading to smoother packaging operations.

The overall packaging process was streamlined, contributing to maximum efficiency across the production line. Perhaps most importantly, the high-speed case erectors maintained consistent performance, ensuring a reliable speed and steady supply of boxes to the production line.

The company expressed high satisfaction with Wayne Automation. “Everything is going good with the equipment,” says the customer. “It works as quoted.”

“This is the first company that I ever went to a factory acceptance test (FAT) with that passed it the first time,” said the customer. The customer says that Wayne was confident that the equipment would pass FAT on the first trial, but the customer was skeptical. “Not only did it pass with flying colors, but just seeing Jay Bachman out there doing the FAT himself was pretty impressive,” says the customer, noting that they ran into “absolute minimum hiccups” with the trial.

When asked what they would tell a company considering working with Wayne, the customer said, “Definitely have to go with Wayne. There have been times when I needed to reach out to someone, and I got a call right back.”

The customer also said there was a time when Wayne was experiencing an issue with a component of one of their machines, and they sent someone out to proactively replace the component to prevent a system failure. “Just the fact that somebody is that proactive means there’s no way I would go with another company because nobody else does that,” says the customer.

Are you ready to experience the difference that high-quality packaging equipment can make in your operations and bottom line? Whether you’re looking for a case erector machine or a partition inserter, contact Wayne Automation today to get a quote for your automated packaging solutions.