Agile case packing helps Alberto-Culver deliver special orders: an in-house engineered system creates multiple case counts—with minimal changeover—to satisfy customer demands

Food & Drug Packaging, Feb, 2005 by Graham Wiemer

Alberto-Culver Co., based in the Chicago suburb of Melrose Park, Ill., has been showered with positive financial reports for more than a decade. With its signature VO5 shampoo and several other personal care and food items, the company has witnessed 12 straight years of record sales and profits.

Culver, which has manufacturing facilities from Sweden to Australia, got its start in 1955 with the VO5 line. Today, the VO5 styling and treatment products are premium items, while the shampoo is more value priced.

Stephen Carter, Culver's group manager of packaging engineering, says, "We're always looking at new ideas to add to [packaging] appeal. But at the same time, we have to cost them out and see if they make sense. And, we don't want the package to convey something inconsistent with the brand."

Following fads in formulations requires flexibility in production. On top of that, trade promotions present a unique and formidable challenge.

Secondary packaging adjustments have also been necessary. Trade customers such as WalMart have presented a demand for six-count cases instead of the standard 12-count. Packaging lines slow down as a result, and cubing out a stable pallet becomes more difficult.

The company began to package some products in "split-apart" corrugated cases several years ago. These featured 12-count boxes with a perforated divider in the middle.

Such boxes can be split in two to form six-count cases. Despite this, trade customers are increasing their demands for "true" six-count cases instead of breakaparts, according to Carter.

There are 12 packaging lines and 300 employees in Culver's main production plant. Speeds vary on the Melrose Park lines, but one of the fastest is dedicated to 15-ounce VO5 products, which is the most common size. This line handles more than 250 bottles per minute.

Bottles are conveyed directly from the blow molding area to the hopper of an unscrambler. The sorter is part of a monobloc system from Ronchi America, which also contains a tiller and a capper.

Carter says monobloc systems are used on most of the plant's fastest lines because their integrated material handling provides faster throughput.

Bottles are filled in a 40-head volumetric rotary tiller and capped in a 16-chuck capper. They emerge single-file, and the bottles that pass inspection move on conveyors from Nercon Engineering to a labeler from SIG Alfa, where pressure-sensitive film labels are applied.

Another round of visual inspections follows, before the bottles go to case packing. Culver's system consists of a case erector and case sealer, both from A-B-C Packaging Machine Corp., and a drop mechanism from Hartness International.

In response to increased demand from trade customers for six-count cases instead of the standard 12-count, Alberto-Culver manufacturing engineers developed drop heads that are able to handle six-count, 12-count and "breakaway" 12-count cases that split in two. Using these drop heads allows the line to match order demands with minimal changeover.

Cases travel into a palletizing area that has four Mathews automatic palletizers from FKI Logistex. Carter says the company had to fine-tune both the cube patterns and the palletizers' motions to stabilize the smaller six-count cases. After stretch wrapping on one of two systems from Lantech Inc., most of the loads are sent directly to distribution centers.

A-B-C Packaging Machine Corp. 800-237-5975; www.abcpackaging.com

FKI Logistex 877-935-4564; www.fkilogistex.com

Hartness International 864-297-1200; www.hartness.com

Lantech Inc. 800-866-0322; www.lantech.com

Nercon Engineering 920-233-3268; www.nercon.com

Ronchi America 203-532-9438; www.ronchi.it

SIG Alfa (SIG Beverages North America) 972-535-0535; www.sigbeverages.com

--Graham Wiemer, Associate Editor