Norgren Collateral

Hebert's Confections experienced heightened demand for their miniBARS, but production was severely bottlenecked. They needed a cost- effective way to increase production, and fast. Hebert's Fully Loaded miniBARS are part of a line of inclusion candies (small items that are added to a chocolate bar such as nuts, toffee chips or cookie pieces). Prior to the pick-and-place project, Hebert manufactured and packaged these miniBARS at a rate of 120/min. This sufficed for demand aer the initial offering and during the business' slow period. An online survey conducted by the confectioner found that its Fully Loaded chocolates are a favorite among its customers, and Hebert expected heightened demand for the miniBARS when its overall business surged. While the confectioner could manufacture the 400 miniBARS/min, Hebert's production was severely bottlenecked at the miniBARS packaging line, which had a top speed of 140 chocolates/min. Hebert's brought in eight different vendors, all which were too costly or were not efficient enough for the team's goals. Hebert's finally contacted Vaccon, a Norgren company. Vaccon visited the packaging operation and knew immediately that a Fastbreak vacuum pump would solve the clogging problem. "Within a week, Vaccon was back with a five- station pump assembly, designed to mount onto our machine using T-nuts," Dan Brackett, Hebert's Representative, recalls. "They had the entire system, including hardware and the proper metric fittings, ready to go. Within 20 minutes, Vaccon and the production supervisor swapped out the existing pumps on one head and had the machine running." Using a so puff of air, the Fastbreak's adjustable automatic blow-off feature allows rapid release of the miniBARS. "With all of the pumps now the Fastbreak type, we increased production to 350 pieces per minute," Gulliver remarks. "Having the right vacuum source increased production, saved us a lot of money and our operators have a quieter working environment. Aer eleven weeks, we received our return on investment. " Problem Solution Chocolatier reaches ROI on Pick and Place Packaging tool after 11 weeks Location: Shrewsbury, MA Client: Hebert Confections Growth driver: Custom End-of-Arm Tool with blow-off capacity Vacuum Generator Case Study VP8X-ADJ Max Series Fast- break Venturi Vacuum Generator provides both vacuum and blow-off in one generator

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