Ready-to-eat meals have become increasingly popular as customers seek greater product variety and easier meal preparation. Among the most sought-after types of ready-to-eat packages are multi-compartment trays, which are ideal for a range of occasions party trays or on-the-go snacks.

To meet the demand for ready-to-eat products, manufacturers have created a wide variety of SKUs in different shapes, weights, and product types. However, traditional manual filling processes are costly due to significant product waste due to drops and spills.

This issue is particularly prevalent in the produce and direct food handling industries, where hand-packed fresh fruits and vegetables can lead to millions of dollars in wasted product with giveaway rates of up to 15%.

The solution? Quest’s flexible robotic system, designed for packing multiple products in the same tray that results in a less than 2% giveaway. Quest, a ProMach product brand and leader in industrial automation equipment such as robotics and vision guidance systems, recently wrote a blog discussing their approach to the challenges these food producers face. Using robotics, vision, and line tracking technology, Quest’s Quik Fill QF100 series automates the filling of single/multi-compartment trays, bowls, and clamshell containers. The result is a highly flexible automation system that provides substantial cost savings. Read more about the Quik Fill QF100 series and its advanced features for automated tray filling and how one company saw ROI in as little as 6 months.

Read the full blog post on Robotic Packaging News here.

And learn about ProMach product brand Quest here