TAUNTON, MASS. — Packaging solutions provider Harpak-ULMA (Harpak) has announced a strategic US and Canadian distribution agreement with Cabinplant to partner for its sales, services and support for the company’s multihead, fixed-weight packaging solutions. Cabinplant provides food processing solutions to manage the entire pre-packaging process from initial bulk product distribution to product feeding, portioning and weighing for packaging meat, poultry, dairy, seafood, pet food and more. 

The partnership combines Cabinplant’s capabilities with Harpak’s existing slate of packaging platforms, automation, package design, accredited training, and national support network results to create a comprehensive portfolio of integrated, automated food packaging solutions available from a single vendor.

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

“Not only that, but it also eliminates onsite testing iterations, improves machine performance, simplifies diagnostics, and streamlines the entire planning, install and startup process to deliver optimized production sooner,” he added. “That translates into faster time to market, better ROI, 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.”

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

The value of multihead weighing includes combining automated pre-packaging product processing, distribution and feeding, accurate portioning, and lower manual labor costs, according to the companies.

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

Cabinplant’s solutions will be pre-integrated to allow for seamless plug-and-play connectivity with tHarpak’s existing automation and packaging platforms. Consistent digital monitoring across production will provide real-time packaging visibility, exposing key information to advanced manufacturing software applications designed to drive production performance improvements, according to Harpak. 

Harpak’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 plans to offer open, pre-configured integration compatible with nearly any vendor’s packaging equipment. According to the company, integrated systems are not only easier to operate and maintain, but they also improve overall solution modularity and elevate producer flexibility, 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,” Roach added. “It’s a value-add play for both existing and prospective customers. 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. 

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

Read more about packaging solutions and trends for pet food and treats.