The Client

Northwest Seafood Processors, or NWSP, is a division of Odyssey Enterprises based out of Seattle. The company specializes in custom processing, private label packaging, and product development for frozen seafood and vegetables. The operations at NWSP include a vast range of equipment options and packaging solutions. The equipment must accommodate retail and foodservice vacuum-packed, tray-packed, bagged, and boxed product runs ranging from 5 oz to 10 lb.

The Challenge

NWSP had been hand-scaling all of its frozen seafood products, a method that is both labor-intensive and time-consuming. NWSP needed a better solution and decided to enlist the help of Yamato in the summer of 2015. After considering and evaluating a variety of automated options, NWSP decided to go with two Model TSDW-205W semi-automatic combination weighers. The units measure 28.9″ wide x 61.1″ deep by 31.9″ – 35.1″ high.

NWSP found the TSDW to be the perfect solution because the weighers are engineered to gently handle and belt-convey food products of a fixed weight for combination scaling. The equipment features easy to wash down and is also compact, making it perfect for conserving plant floor space. The high speed is up to 1800 weighments per hour, and the equipment boasts high accuracy, reducing the costs associated with product giveaway and damage. NWSP knew these weighers would improve their overall packaging line efficiency.

Benefits of a Semi-Auto Combination Weigher

Ted Hadley is the CFO and GM for Odyssey Enterprises, Inc. He says that the purchase of the TSDW weighers was a low investment when compared with the many overall benefits to his operations. Hadley said that “We installed this equipment for several reasons. The price is significantly less than a full-size combination scale, and the installation costs were zero. The programmability is straightforward, and the compact weighers can be moved from line to line as needed. Also, we like the gentle handling belt conveyor, the easy cleaning capability, and the overall simplicity and flexibility of the weighers. We use the system to feed tray-pack and pre-made pouch lines. Labor costs have been reduced because each weigher can automatically do the work of four hand scale workers in the equivalent amount of time.”

Hadley and the team over at NWSP were delighted by what Yamato was able to do for them. The dependable Yamato combination weighers helped the company meet its goals, and Yamato can do the same for you. Read our other case studies to learn more about how our equipment can lower your production costs and increase your efficiency.

(Quote Source – Packaging World)

The Client

Hollingbery & Son is a fourth-generation hops broker in Yakima, Washington. A little over a year ago, the company made a sizable investment in processing and packaging equipment that automated their operations, producing significant gains in speed and efficiency.

The Challenge

Hollingbery & Son would receive 200-lb bales of hops, which would then be ground up and milled into quarter-inch pellets. Then the company would re-bag the hops pellets, requiring manual labor and pre-made bags. This is precisely why Hollingbery decided it was time to automate their processes.

According to Packaging World, Bratney Companies, a specialist in meeting the needs of the agricultural processing industry, was key in helping Hollingbery & Son automate the bagging process. VP of Operations, Matt Hollingbery, also made many of the decisions when it came to choosing suppliers.

Ultimately, along with a few other pieces of key equipment, the company decided to use a Yamato for a 14-bucket combination scale.

How a Yamato Combination Scale Met the Challenge

The company had heard great things about Yamato’s products, and ultimately Matt Hollingbery decided that the 14-bucket combination scale would help the company save money in the pellet bagging process. He noted that hops are a rather expensive item, sometimes costing up to $30 a pound, and mused, “We could have opted for a three-head combination scale like some others here in the valley have done. But the 14-head Yamato keeps giveaway to an absolute minimum, so payback on our investment will be quick.” Hollingberry also said that the Yamato scale came highly recommended.

Yamato knew that Hollingbery had very specific needs, and the two companies worked together to find the perfect solution. An extraction fan was included in the ADW-714SV scale in order to keep the hops’ airborne particles from contaminating the electrical circuitry. The scale was also customized to include patented ultra heavy duty load cells able to withstand more than 500 pounds of weight. These aspects are very important because during cleaning or maintenance operators sometimes accidentally use an actuator or bucket as a foothold.

Yamato was able to meet the unique needs of Hollingbery & Son when they sought to automate the pellet bagging process. Hollingbery is now producing the 22-lb bags at a rate of 6 to 8 minutes. Said Hollingbery, “It’s faster throughout with the same amount of labor. We also see less waste compared to when it was done manually.”

Learn More

Yamato commercial scales offer food manufacturers like Hollingbery & Son durable, customizable food weighing solutions that can grow to meet their evolving needs. To learn more about this and Yamato’s other commercial weighing products, visit the Yamato Americas website or contact us for more information.

(Quote Source – Packaging World)

The Client

Tasteful Selections LLC is a specialty potato brand that prides itself on modernizing the potato for the modern lifestyle. The brand has family growers from California, Nevada, and Arizona, and it is also a joint venture of Wisconsin’s RPE, CSS Farms, and Plover River Farms Alliance Inc.

Since 2010, Tasteful Selections has sought to make cooking easier and faster with pre-washed and pre-peeled potatoes. The company markets itself around the concept of “rescued moments,” which has its own Twitter hashtag and celebrates time saved in the kitchen that can be better spent with family.

The Challenge

In 2015, Tasteful Selections was building a new facility and sought to improve their operations. Nathan Bender, the Vice President of Plant Operations, knew it was time for a change. Said Bender, “Tasteful Selections had started in a smaller facility in 2010, and we originally were using a certain type of checkweigher. We just always struggled with those, both with speed and accuracy. We had Yamato scales feeding the bagger, and those were great, but this other brand of checkweigher downstream from the bagger just wasn’t doing the job.”

How Yamato Checkweighers Helped

Bender had observed Yamato checkweighers in Europe on different packing lines and was impressed. When the new Alvin, California facility was being built, Tasteful Selections turned to Yamato once more.

According to Bender, “We bought seven more checkweighers, and we had them running in our new facility in 2015. Over the years, we’ve bought more, and as of a new installation just this month, we now have 13 Yamato I-Series checkweighers here at the Alvin facility.”

Said Bender, “What we like about them is the speed and the accuracy. Yamato’s always been known to have highly accurate scales. That has always been our challenge — to find a highly accurate checkweigher to make sure that the product that got put in the bag is of the weight that the customer requires, or that we’re posting on the bag.”

Bender and his team trusted Yamato’s checkweighers to be accurate and uphold Tasteful Selections’ integrity as a brand. They trusted Yamato so much, in fact, that over the years the company has transitioned to a checkweigher operation that consists almost entirely of Yamato machines. In that time Bender has found himself impressed with the durability of the checkweighers. Said Bender, “We’ve needed a few repairs, mainly wear items like belts. The brand we had prior, we were burning up a lot of motors — not so anymore. I would say the overall use and wear and tear on these has been surprisingly good, but I think that’s also in part because Yamato has always been really good to work with on maintenance.”

Tasteful Selections has never regretted turning to Yamato when they were looking for quality and efficiency. The checkweighers have allowed the company to continue producing convenient and delicious potatoes for the everyday person.

Learn More

With customizable components and durable, compact design, Yamato checkweighers offer food producers like Tasteful Selections high-quality food packing solutions to meet their ever-changing needs. To learn more about this and our many other automatic weighing solutions, visit the Yamato Americas website or contact us for more information.

(Quote Source – Packaging World)