Packaging Line For Frozen Cheesecake Manufacturer Sports Streamlined Conveying For Delicate Product Handling

By Jim McMahon, Zebra Communications

When Culinary Art's Specialties, Inc. (Culinary Art's), a manufacturer of frozen cheesecakes, made the decision to expand its plant and build a new manufacturing facility in Cheektowaga, New York outside of Buffalo, it incorporated the switch from a manual packaging line to an automated system that would be capable of handling its throughput of 45 frozen cheesecakes per minute. Critical was the need to move the delicate frozen desserts through the packaging cycle with placement precision and without defecting the cheesecakes while toppings were applied and plastic-domes put in place, and the cakes were shrink wrapped, individually boxed, labeled and case packed. To achieve this, Culinary Arts utilized a unique conveying solution from Shuttleworth, Inc. incorporating multiple features for handling the company's extremely delicate product line. The end-of-line conveying system provided precise product placement for shrink wrapping, labeling and case packing, minimized product contact with the conveyor and virtually eliminated cheesecake damage, a problem the company was experiencing with its prior manual packaging.