Custom Food Bagging Carousel

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana was looking to expand its BackSacks program from 3,000 to 10,000 BackSacks per week, enabling them to feed more children throughout Central and Southeastern Indiana. To accomplish this feat, Gleaners turned to Blue Arc to design and fabricate a custom assembly line that would automate the previously slow, manual process of bagging food.

In response, Blue Arc created this custom carousel which holds 29 bagging areas that rotate within 15 separate workstations. With volunteers at each of the 15 stations and the carousel running at max speed, seven BackSacks (42 meals) can be created every minute.

Benefits:

  • Ergonomics: The provides much more ergonomic working conditions. Volunteers no longer have to carry large, bulk cases of product to each bag station. Now the bulk cases are stationary and the bags travel to the volunteers.

  • Throughput: The carousel allows for a much higher throughput of bags per day. All things equal, the carousel will out produce the previous process by 2 to 3 times.

  • Professionalism: With the introduction of the automated process, Gleaners now has a much more professional and polishied operation, helping them show the community they aren’t a small food bank, but rather a professional organization.

Specifications:

  • Size of the unit equals 28'L x 5'W x 4'H

  • ¾ HP SEW Eurodrive motor with Rexnord 2500-TAB Multiflex chain

  • Made of standard carbon steel and steel square tubing

  • With a full volunteer staff and the unit running at full speed, throughput equals about 7 bags per minute.

  • The unit holds 29 bagging pallets--standard plastic bag holders donated by Kroger Grocery Company--with UHMW plastic bottoms. These allow for minimum pressure conveyance.