Harpak-ULMA, Cabinplant partner to deliver pre-integrated systems

By Alyssa Mitchell

Photo by Alyssa Mitchell/Cheese Market News

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP — Harpak-ULMA Packaging CEO Kevin Roach, right, and Cabinplant CEO Lars Ryholl, left, recently met with customers at Pack Expo International to highlight their new strategic U.S. and Canadian distribution agreement to partner on sales, services and support for Cabinplant’s renowned multihead fixed-weight packaging solutions.

Image courtesy of Harpak-ULMA

SPEED AND ACCURACY — Pictured above is a vibratory feeding weigher. Multihead weighers with vibratory feeding deliver superior speed and efficiency for dry, free-flowing products. The vibration-based technology ensures smooth product handling and distribution across the weighing heads, making it ideal for high-speed processing environments.

TAUNTON, Mass. — Harpak-ULMA Packaging, a leading provider of smart, connected packaging solutions, recently announced a strategic U.S. and Canadian distribution agreement with Cabinplant to partner on sales, services and support for the company’s renowned multihead fixed-weight packaging solutions. The companies recently rolled out the announcement with a collaborative booth at Pack Expo International, held Nov. 3-6 in Chicago.

Harpak-ULMA, which is marking its 30th year in business, is an arm of ULMA, a global industry leader in complete packaging line solutions for food, medical, bakery and industrial products. In addition to offering ULMA primary packaging systems and comprehensive automation solutions, Harpak-ULMA represents G. Mondini tray sealers, and now, Cabinplant’s multihead weighing and associated processing solutions in the United Sates and Canada. Harpak-ULMA joined the Rockwell Automation Partner Network in 2018 as part of its initiative to build and deploy smart, connected packaging solutions.

Kevin Roach, Harpak-ULMA CEO, notes that combining Cabinplant’s capabilities with Harpak-ULMA’s services and national support network results in one of the most comprehensive, modular portfolios of integrated, automated food packaging solutions available from a single vendor in the Northeast U.S. region.

Cabinplant provides innovative, efficient and tailored food processing solutions capable of managing the entire pre-packaging process — from initial bulk product distribution to product feeding and highly accurate portioning and weighing for fresh, frozen or processed dairy, meat, poultry, seafood, fruits, vegetables, convenience foods and pet food packaging processes.

“Expanding our solution footprint to embrace more units of production for a customer makes a lot of sense because it shifts the burden of interoperability from the buyer to the supplier,” Roach says. “A single, automated pre-integrated solution reduces the risk and time typically associated with patching together technology from multiple vendors.”

Additionally, a single solution eliminates on-site testing iterations, improves machine performance, simplifies diagnostics and streamlines the entire planning, install and startup process to deliver optimized production sooner, Roach adds.

“That translates into faster time to market, better ROI (return on investment) and faster payback than more complex, multi-vendor solutions — on top of the return customers realize by implementing more efficient and accurate fixed-weight packaging automation,” he says.

The agreement between Harpak-ULMA and Cabinplant significantly increases the range of automation and packaging combinations available to the markets Harpak-ULMA’s serves. Cabinplant’s North American customer base gains access to pre-integrated Harpak-ULMA packaging platforms as well as the company’s extended services offerings such as package design, Harpak-ULMA’s training academy and overall equipment efficiency (OEE) monitoring, plus an extensive North American support services and parts supply operation.

The value of multihead weighing is derived from a combination of automated pre-packaging product processing, distribution and feeding, highly accurate portioning and dramatically lower manual labor costs, notes Lars Ryholl, Cabinplant CEO.

“Delivering food products at a fixed weight without automation poses significant challenges due to the natural variability in product size and yield management complexities,” Ryholl says. “Traditional, manually intensive packaging processes are notoriously inefficient and costly, both in terms of labor and product ‘giveaway,’ which can run up to 5%-6% of packaging yield. Cabinplant’s solutions ensure the customer the lowest giveaway on the market — which is substantial in terms of profit optimization, not to mention the significant labor savings.”

Cabinplant’s multihead food processing and weighing systems offer precise portioning and accurate weighing of a wide variety of naturally variable food products, including fresh, frozen and delicate items. These systems integrate seamlessly with different types of packaging solutions — such as trays, bags or cartons — ensuring efficient product handling and reducing food waste while maintaining high-speed production with minimal overfill. This versatility supports diverse packaging needs in the food industry, promoting sustainability and operational efficiency. Cabinplant also offers single machines with built-in knowledge for optimizing yield, throughput and product quality.

Ryholl notes that the partnership with Harpak-ULMA will result in a “whole new world opening up” for Cabinplant’s customers.

In keeping with Harpak-ULMA’s philosophy of delivering smart, connected packaging solutions, Cabinplant’s solutions have been pre-integrated to allow for seamless plug-and-play connectivity with Harpak-ULMA’s existing automation and packaging platforms, Roach notes. A consistent digital thread across production enables real-time packaging visibility, exposing key information to advanced manufacturing software applications designed to drive production performance improvements. Harpak-ULMA’s OEE monitoring and augmented reality solutions will expand to include the Cabinplant line.

In addition to ensuring seamless connectivity with its own automation equipment, the company is offering open, pre-configured integration compatible with virtually any vendor’s packaging equipment. Integrated systems not only are easier to operate and maintain, but they also improve overall solution modularity, elevating producer flexibility and thereby improving their ability to meet evolving retailer and market demands.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Cabinplant to our family of packaging platforms and automation solutions. It’s a value-add play for both existing and prospective customers,” Roach says. “We are particularly excited by the variety of feeding and weighing configuration options they create for our tray seal, thermoformer, vertical form/fill/seal, flow wrap and carton solutions. That kind of customizable, modular packaging approach is very much in line with how we see the market evolving across every one of the industries we serve.”

He adds that the ability to deliver highly accurate, automated portioning is very much in demand, not only in case-ready applications, but in fresh or frozen prepared foods and packaged meats or seafood.

“The fact that their accuracy is so good as to all but eliminate product giveaway will turn a lot of heads,” Roach says.

He adds that Cabinplant and Harpak-ULMA’s core values are very well aligned.

“Our No. 1 value is customer service,” he says.

Roach adds Harpak-ULMA’s solutions cater best to “difficult” products like specialty cheeses. As cheesemakers continue to produce superior products, the technology and requirements surrounding those products constantly changes. Regulations, customer requirements, materials, labor availability and technology all are a part of the ever-changing cheese packer’s world.

“Whether packaged on thermoformers, tray sealers, flow wrappers or vertical baggers, we have the right equipment solutions — and we can do it as well as anyone,” he says. “Our customers now will benefit from both sides of the equation and the synergies between these two companies.”

Automation — and now artificial intelligence (AI) — also are key components of both Harpak-ULMA and Cabinplant’s solutions, Roach notes.

“It’s difficult to train people to properly take apart a machine. But now with AI, companies can verify when a bolt was taken out or a gasket was put in. It won’t let you go to step 12 until step 11 is verified,” he says. “Now we can take an untrained person, and in four hours, they can do it perfectly.”

He adds that advanced technologies allow for “on-demand knowledge”—the information you need, when you need it.

For more information, visit www.harpak-ulma.com/weighing-loading-portioning-equipment.

CMN

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