Kelley Supply’s new partnership with Transcendia assures quality, support

Photo courtesy of Kelley Supply

QUALITY PARTNERSHIP — Sarah Nosbisch, product manager for Kelley Supply’s barrier film packaging category, inspects a 40-pound cheese block liner developed in partnership with Transcendia.

Photo courtesy of Kelley Supply

BLUE FILM BUBBLE — Transcendia’s blue film bubble is blown and then run through rollers for additional cooling. Its coextrusion assets can produce films with up to nine layers that can be customized for specific barrier, toughness and seal strength needs.

COLBY, Wis. — Kelley Supply continues to enhance its packaging category, adding a new strategic partnership with Transcendia, a U.S.-based flexible packaging company that will assure Kelley customers guaranteed quality and availability of its 640- and 40-pound cheese block liners, and 500-pound barrel liner needs.

Noted for its best-in-class service, support and supply of products used in cheese and other food manufacturers’ daily operations, Kelley Supply continues to listen to the needs of its customers for a guaranteed supply of high-quality customized barrier packaging solutions.

Sarah Nosbisch, product manager of Kelley Supply’s barrier film packaging category, notes that the company’s strategic partnerships with trusted suppliers, like Transcendia, allow Kelley Supply to offer solutions tailored to customers’ specific needs.

Through this partnership, Kelley Supply is introducing several innovative roll-stock options for cheese and whey packaging, including 40-pound cheese block bags, 640-pound block liners, barrel cheese liners, bulk tote bags, thermoforming films, and VFFS (vertical form-fill-seal) films for shredded cheese.

“We pride ourselves on choosing reliable suppliers, like Transcendia, that focus heavily on service and support as well as providing custom solutions,” Nosbisch says. “Our approach goes beyond what our competitors provide; we work closely with our customers and have the knowledge to understand their pain points and develop customized solutions.”

Nosbisch is a licensed cheesemaker with more than 15 years of experience in the areas of the plant necessary to package 40- and 640-pound cheese blocks, barrels, totes and consumer-ready packaging. She has managed and held positions in cheese and whey processing facilities in Wisconsin, Texas and Iowa.

Nosbisch says the food industry wants more than just a distributor of products, noting Kelley Supply offers the knowledge and experience needed in the production and packaging of the products being manufactured.

“I know the process flow on production and packaging floors,” Nosbisch says. “Especially how important reduced downtime and leaker rates are to a plant’s bottom line. I also understand the value of a trusted packaging partner — one that meets high expectations, and one that knows the poly industry and the capabilities of resins, acceptable lead times, a reliable manufacturing process and high-quality standards. It’s about quality, for certain, but it is equally about availability, functionality, experience and support. Kelley and Transcendia are perfect partners. It is a perfect fit.”

Kelley Supply’s engineers have decades of experience in sanitary food environments and understand the challenges packaging producers face in the dairy space and other food ingredient facilities.

While trialing another product, Kelley Supply recently had a cheese manufacturer and whey processor come to the company with a problem with its barrel line. The customer was experiencing shelf life and leaker issues, receiving mold complaints from its customers.

“Working with our engineering team at Kelley Supply, we watched the operation’s process and recreated the bag so we could get a true perspective. We discovered the company’s barrel sealer was not performing as it should and that the liner needed a different barrier property that would reduce leakers,” Nosbisch says.

“Working together, we developed an optimized barrel liner that created a stronger seal. But then we went further to create new SSOPs and SOP for the company’s process and worked with the OEM to fix the company’s sealer issues. That is our happy place, out on the floor, in the thick of production, solving issues and increasing efficiencies.”

Transcendia, headquartered in Franklin Parks, Illinois, has a long history of developing customer-specific innovations for different types of packaging applications for the food and beverage, health care and specialty industrial markets.

Dan Worst, director of product management for Transcendia, says Kelley Supply is perfectly suited to bring his company’s highly specialized films to the dairy industry.

“We focus on taking the time to talk with customers and asking the right questions to understand specific packaging needs so we can develop the correct film solutions for different applications,” Worst says. “This philosophy aligns well with the superior service and attention to detail Kelley Supply is known for. As a solutions provider, Kelley Supply is uniquely equipped to address dairy manufacturers’ challenges with our diverse product portfolio, expert technical support, commitment to quality and an eye for innovation. Together, our ability to deliver tailored solutions ensures we can meet the specific needs of our customers effectively.”

Kelley Supply also is working with Transcendia on meeting today’s demand for more highly engineered packaging structures that offer increased functionality.

Transcendia has gone through recent blown- and cast-barrier film investments, producing customized films with up to nine layers for multiple food production, distribution and storage applications.

“People want fresh food, but they also want extended shelf life, so there’s a balance that is needed. We have the expertise to be able to run these complex structures,” Worst says. “We focus specifically on what the packaging needs to do, what we are protecting, what it is we are enclosing and how we can best achieve that in the structures we develop with our customers.”

Kelley Supply prides itself on having multiple repeat customers, and Nosbisch attributes this to its focus on quality, continuous improvement and innovation, as well as a regular distribution/logistics network.
“Even though we might find the perfect product for a customer, we are continuously looking for ways to improve upon that product to benefit our customer,” Nosbisch says. “We’re always looking at innovation and what is on the market. We understand how critical availability and lead times are to our customers, and we are always looking to improve upon these.”

Kelley Supply partners with suppliers who share its philosophies.

“When you buy a product from Kelley Supply, it will always be the same product that was qualified,” Nosbisch says. “We do not supplement products unless it has been discussed with the customer first; there are no surprises here, only reliability and trust.”

This year, Kelley Supply also anticipates increased demand for convenience-focused packaging such as single-serve, on-the-go formats, and a continued increase in demand for sustainable and efficient solutions such as downgauged substrates that maintain performance and packaging designed for recyclability.
As a supplier partner, Transcendia supports sustainability efforts by providing technologies that support downgauging without sacrificing performance, recyclable films and advanced barrier packaging that helps reduce food waste.

“Automation will continue to play a critical role in the cheese and dairy packaging sector, especially as manufacturers look to optimize efficiency, reduce waste and ensure consistency in their operations,” Nosbisch says. “Kelley Supply is at the forefront of this trend, offering packaging solutions designed to integrate seamlessly with automated systems, enabling our customers to stay competitive in this fast-evolving market.”

Kelley Supply also operates within a robust quality environment that includes a food safety plan compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act. Its facility and programs are reviewed annually through a Good Distribution Practices (GDPs) audit conducted by ASI Food Safety.

“Partnering with Transcendia strengthens our product portfolio due to their deep technical expertise and robust domestic supply chain,” Nosbisch says. “Transcendia’s collaborative approach allows us to co-develop custom solutions tailored to our customers’ needs. Coupled with Kelley Supply’s cheesemaking experience and technical service, this sets us apart in the competitive film and packaging industry.”

CMN

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