Marco Profit Portfolio for pack-houses

Marco has appointed Reactive Engineering as its Australian and New Zealand agent for its pack-house automation system that is designed to improve profitability in the fresh-produce sector.

Marco designs, installs and commissions pack-house profitability systems, providing rapid payback (return on investment) usually within the first growing season. They have experience and expertise with soft fruits and berries, vegetables, fresh herbs, prepared salads and prepared fruit.

Marco’s Profit Portfolio consists of essential pack-house modules, each specifically designed to optimise productivity, maintain product quality and maximise profitability. These modules can be implemented as stand-alone systems or as part of a wider pack-house solution.

The Marco Yield Control Module (YCM) has been specifically developed to provide comprehensive data that allows the pack-house to measure and control its packing process. Effective yield control leads directly to reduced giveaway, improved quality, improved productivity, reduced waste, reduced transport costs and increased profits.

The Marco system uses operator-friendly LineMaster workstations that de-skill the manual packing process. The simple-to-use traffic light system guides operators as they pack, ensuring individual target weights are kept within very close tolerances. The clever part of the system is the automatic optimisation software operating quietly in the background. This continually monitors pack weights at individual stations and adjusts target weights to keep the average pack weight right on target. The operators are oblivious to these subtle changes and continue to pack consistently to the ‘green light’. If target weights do deviate outside standard preset limits, the supervisor is immediately alerted so that rapid remedial action can be taken.

The LineMasters feature robust wireless connectivity which allows rapid line configuration changes. Target weight changes are carried out centrally via the PC-based DataMaster terminal. The module automatically produces accurate yield data over user-defined periods by batch run and total production. Key recorded pack-house data includes: operator ID, number of packs completed per unit time/per operator, total quantity of product allocated to any particular line, actual amount packed at each workstation, pack weight trends by operator, rapid access to electronic traceability and yield data by batch run/total production.

The Marco Line Control Module (LCM) provides pack-house operators with a safe and secure set-up capability for all elements of the packing line. This enables the rapid automated set-up of date coders, inline barcode scanners (1D and 2D), printers and metal detectors from one selection at a central PC screen.

The Marco LCM ensures correct label, correct flash label, correct printed information and better traceability with automated information on packaging. The benefits of the Marco LCM include: elimination of return to manufacturer/emergency product withdrawal incidents; rapid line set-up and product changeover times; increased levels of traceability; elimination of packaging rework and ‘near misses’; sustained reduction in QC/QA burden; real-time reporting and operator accountability; and increased levels of downtime information.