Automated Case Packing Helps OH-SNAP! Stay Lock Step with Rapid Growth

A division of GLK Foods, OH SNAP! was formed in 2015 to produce refrigerated, single-serve, brine-less pickled vegetables such as pickles, carrots, green beans, snap peas and jalapeños.

OH SNAP!’s initial foray into the market with stand-up pickle pouches led to strong results. After additional products were introduced, management decided in 2019 to construct a new manufacturing plant in nearby Little Chute, Wisc., to handle the growing business. The nearly 70,000-square-foot facility began brining product in March, just as the Covid-19 pandemic was starting to spread in the U.S. market. However, demand has remained strong as workers are now producing finished goods at the new plant, and the company is running three shifts, six days a week.

To handle the collating and case packing of single-serve pouches, the company has implemented two new high-speed end-of-line packaging machines (SOMIC). The first of the 424 W3 wraparound case packers has begun collating and case packing almost two million single-serve pouches per week. OH SNAP! president Ryan Downs explains how the company came across the case packing solution as a means of supporting production growth.

“We first heard about SOMIC through John Bartmann, representative at PCA,” says Downs. “He introduced us to Peter Fox [SOMIC’s senior vice president of sales] in 2016. I remember thinking that if the OH SNAP! line ever did the volume to support the purchase of a SOMIC machine, we would have really created something special. We’ll soon be purchasing our third.”

Downs says that a presentation by Fox convinced company management to invest in the end-of-line machines. “Before purchasing our machines, we looked at two or three other solutions to be sure nothing was missed.” he says. “We loved the simplicity of its design, its compact nature, and the references we received could not have been more glowing. We also learned through our references that start-up would be very quick, and indeed it has been.”

For OH-SNAP!, the automated case packing brings a combination of labor efficiency, greater capacity, and materials savings. “Labor savings was the primary driver for the decision, but the machines also allow us to increase throughput and grow production as sales increase,” says Downs. “We’re also able to use a slightly smaller case which ultimately reduces our corrugated spend.”

The wraparound case packers are flexible, high-performance systems that use decentralized servo drives. To satisfy distribution to retailers such as grocery, big box and C-stores—plus vending and hospitality outlets—throughout North America, and widening the channel to include Europe, OH SNAP! plans to have the machines collate and case pack up to 160 pouches per minute.

The 424 case packers provide OH-SNAP! with an ideal methodology to accept pouches, since pouches are processed lying flat on their backs, then are stood upright by the machine. Next, a row is pushed into the collection area, followed by additional rows. This enables the machine to run a multitude of case counts without any significant change required for the new formats.

When the pack pattern has been completed in the collection area, a forming cassette transports the entire product group onto the flat corrugated blank, which is then wrapped around the metal cassette holding the product. When the cassette closes around the standing group of pouches, it shores up the pack pattern ensuring proper carton fit.

The machine provides OH SNAP! with the ability to automatically case pack the individual pickle pouches at 160 packs per minute with a single operator, while using 10% less material than the type of case previously used.

“Most importantly, the wraparound case packers enable their operation to automate the pouching of their on-the-go pickled products at a rate that would be difficult at best to hand pack,” says Fox.

Thanks to rapid implementation (the machines were up and running 10 days after arriving at the plant), both 424 units were ready in time for the annual, six-week Wisconsin cucumber harvest that began on July 10. During this harvest, OH SNAP! expanded from 68 employees to 94 workers to accommodate increased production.

“We will be producing between 1.5 to 2 million pouches per week,” Downs says of the harvest. “We’re already planning an additional 40,000 square feet to our facility to accommodate growth of the brand. By the time it’s completed next summer, I expect us to far exceed what we are currently producing.”