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Milo’s Tea Company Relies on ProMach Product Brands to Help with Continued Growth

What started as a small, family-owned operation, Milo’s Tea Company has since grown into a major tea empire. Milo’s Tea Company has experienced significant growth year over year, expanding into a major tea empire. With this continued growth, Milo’s production facilities rely on processing and packaging partnerships to help keep up with production goals and be flexible to change when increased production is required.

“With our growth doubling every year, we need partners and relationships that can deal with our everyday needs,” says Craig Edwards, Director of Quality Assurance at Milo’s Tea Company. Milo’s relies on three ProMach product brands to do just that, Statco-DSI, Fogg, and ID Technology.

Statco-DSI, a leader in processing line engineering & integration services, has been working with Milo’s for 20+ years, providing expert engineering services and efficient and reliable processing systems. Whether it’s the brewing, pasteurization, or process systems, Statco-DSI delivers solutions that enable Milo’s Tea Company business to grow significantly.

Fogg, a leader in bottle rinsing, filling, and capping equipment for free-flowing liquids, provides clean and reliable filling machinery at 110-120 bottles per minute for the four-gallon lines and for 20 oz and 12 oz at 260 bottles per minute. The fillers boast quick changeovers, reliability, and are easy to operate, giving operators ownership of the equipment and boosting productivity.

ID Technology, an industry leader in labeling automation, coding, and marking, provides Milo’s Tea Company systems that provide necessary label information for Milo and its customers. The labeling systems, as well as the labels, have provided a significant opportunity to support changing requirements from customers and the flexibility has proven to be a “game changer.”

These partnerships have enabled Milo’s Tea Company to grow significantly and make running the business, along with the production line, as painless as possible. “As we work with different brands within ProMach, it’s about the relationships. If we can continue to grow together and you have the understanding of what everybody needs, that’s really key for everybody involved,” adds Gary Francis, Operations Superintendent at Milos.

Watch the full video below to see how ProMach has provided those solutions and how Statco-DSI, Fogg, and ID Technology have each significantly contributed to production success at Milos Tea Company.

Matrix and Youth Apprenticeship Program Help Develop the Next Generation of Mechanical Engineers

It’s a common story heard across the news cycles: labor market woes are being felt across many industries, especially industrial and manufacturing. According to a US Chamber of Commerce article published in October of this year, durable goods manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade industries have especially been hit hard with labor shortages in a post-pandemic era. However, in the town of Saukville, WI, a ProMach product brand is doing its part to ensure its town is better equipped with future generations interested in the world of manufacturing.

Matrix, a ProMach product brand and a leader in building vertical form fill seal packaging equipment, has an especially vested interest in serving its community. One of the primary ways is through the support of the Ozaukee Youth Apprenticeship Program, an integrated school-based and work-based learning program that provides high school students in their junior and senior years with academic and occupational skills throughout Wisconsin. Matrix works with the Ozaukee Youth Apprenticeship Program and offers apprenticeships and internship opportunities for students to learn about manufacturing and the world of packaging equipment at their facility. Specifically for vertical form fill and seal packaging equipment, which is used by CPG manufacturers for everyday food items such as popcorn, crackers, and more.

Sam Kurten, a senior at Cedarburg High School, has always had an interest in learning how things are made since he was young. As he’s gotten older, Sam has expressed further interest in pursuing a career in machinery and engineering. Through the Youth Apprenticeship Program, Sam was connected with Matrix and has been working for a year, learning competencies such as hands-on technical skills, critical thinking to solve a variety of problems, and how to be a helpful teammate, among others.  

“We have some really great machinists at Matrix that are absolutely at the top of their profession,” Sam said. “Whenever I have questions, they always know what I’m trying to figure out and are there to help me with problems.”

Eric Walker, Mechanical Engineering Manager at Matrix, has seen Sam’s growth throughout his time with Matrix this past year. “Sam is doing fantastic,” Walker said. “He is a very bright young man – that was evident even during his interview. It was obvious to me that he was going to be a very strong candidate. And, thus far, he’s been just that. He has been ideal for this apprenticeship program.”

As for the apprenticeship program, Matrix is and will continue to be an active member. “Matrix has a vested interest in serving the community,” Walker said. “We have access to these young individuals through a program like this. So, it’s an outreach tool for us and allows us to engage in the excitement of younger individuals, and that gives them a bright outlook for their future.”

“My apprenticeship with Matrix has really opened my eyes to all the possibilities within packaging and manufacturing,” Sam says. “So far, it’s been a really great experience to be able to do something that’s going to help me long-term.”

We’re incredibly proud to have students like Sam learn and work alongside some of our talented engineers at ProMach. Watch the video below to learn more about the apprenticeship and how Sam enjoyed his year at Matrix.

Want to learn more about Sam’s time at Matrix? Read the article below from Modern Material Handling where they interview Sam about a day in the life of an engineering intern:

https://www.mmh.com/article/60_seconds_with_sam_kurten_engineering_intern_at_matrix_a_promach_product

References

Ferguson, S. (2022, October 31). Understanding America’s labor shortage: The most impacted industries. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage-the-most-impacted-industries

Photos courtesy of Packaging Digest

The Power of ProMach Integration – New Video from ProMach Pharma

Adam Rosenthal, Director of Marketing for ProMach Pharma, walks through the full blister packaging line at Pack Expo International for aseptic kits, including filling, labeling, robotic pick-and-place, blister packing, cartoning, and case packing. This includes ProMach product brands NJM Packaging, Weiler Labeling Systems, Pharmaworks, Serpa, and others.

A special thanks to Dara Pharmaceutical Equipment, PharmaMed, and Beckhoff Automation USA for their contributions to this complete line, in addition to the ProMach Pharma brands.

Watch the video below from Healthcare Packaging to see ProMach Pharma solutions in action as a single source solution provider for this industry.

Below is the link to the original post on Healthcare Packaging: https://www.healthcarepackaging.com/PACKEXPO/video/22512028/integrated-vial-and-syringe-filling-to-case-packing

New Video Features Advanced Automation with Robotics and Batch Retort Systems from Allpax

A two-door retort automated system, a robotic loading cell, foreground, loads baskets with products. The process is reversed, rear center, with the robots removing the sterilized product and slip sheets from the baskets.

Allpax, a ProMach product brand and global leader in the design and fabrication of food sterilization such as cookers, retorts, autoclaves, and material handling automation equipment, has a new video out highlighting advanced automation with robotics and batch retort systems. The new video features new high-speed sweep style loading/unloading systems for handling cans, up to 2,000 units per minute throughput per loader and unloader cell. At the loading cell, one robot sweeps cans into a basket while another places a slip sheet between the layers. The unloader cell reverses the process by having a robot sweep cans out of the basket while the other robot removes the slip sheet between the layers. And while this video is an animation, it is based on an actual production system that Allpax recently delivered to a customer!

The Importance of Advanced Robotics

Robotic sweep-type loaders provide an alternative for operations looking for greater flexibility in batch retort automation systems. The robotic sweep loading reduces stress on the structure of the loading system, extending the service life. Time and labor are saved because robots can perform automatic changeover between can sizes vs traditional non-robotic loaders. Robots can also be called in when systems are upgraded or decommissioned.

Not just for cans, Allpax also offers robotic automation systems for handling pouches, bowls, cartons, and more. These can run 300 units per minute or more.

Learn more about Allpax on their website here and see the full video below.

Highlights from Day One at the International Baking Industry (IBIE) Las Vegas

Today kicked off the International Baking Industry Exposition (IBIE) in Las Vegas and ProMach product brands are exhibiting innovative packaging technology solutions tailored to the baking industry. From primary to secondary packaging, ProMach solutions fit market requirements and meet the demands of expanding operations. From ovens to packaged products in boxes and out the door, ProMach has the machines to ensure maximum productivity.

When production lines need secondary packaging to stabilize the primary packaged product within to prevent damage during shipping as well as scratching to the product’s primary packaging, customers call ProMach Labeling and Coding solutions, including ID Technology and EPI, innovators in labeling, coding, and marking solutions. Secondary packaging not only displays product information and branding but can act as a form of protective or tamper-evident packaging for the product contained within. Barcode labeling on secondary packaging is also essential in order to comply with customer mandates.

Mark Bowden, VP of Sales for ID Technology, walks us through the EPI MFlex here on the show floor at IBIE.

Catch us the remainder of the show as we preview Ossid’s presentation of the newest ProMach product brand ReeFlow 50 flow wrapper, the Benchmark, Kleenline, and Southern product handling and pouch filling systems, and End of Line solutions from Wexxar Bel.