Reprinted from PMT July/August 2010 issue

hen it first entered the whole-sale berry business, Berry FreshProduce LLC could maintain

its steady growth by adding additionalemployees and mixing and matching exist-ing equipment to label its fruit-filledclamshells. Eventually however the differ-ent machines began to create moreheadaches than they were built to solve.Couple this issue with the rising costs ofadding additional employees and theDominguez Hills, Calif.-company decidedit was time to upgrade its equipment.

Warehouse manager Daniel Giner soughtthe advice of the company that providedlabels for Berry Fresh and found that theyoffered a solution that solved both problems.

Challenge: Business growth made manuallabeling for clamshells unneccessarily timeconsuming and expensive.

Solution: Invest in a cost-effective wipe-on labeler that effectively kills two birdswith one stone.

“Berry Fresh is a leading national dis-tributor of assorted fresh berries; specifi-cally, fresh blueberries, blackberries, rasp-berries and strawberries. We are located inSouthern California and distributeberries in clamshell ranging from eightounces up to two pounds. As we’ve grown,our distribution has risen and we nowprovide, on a wholesale basis, to retailfood chains such as Wal-Mart, Costco,Trader Joe’s, Albertson’s, Safeway, Kroger

and select food service companies.In the beginning we used strictly

manual labeling and eventually accumu-lated two different labeling machinesand three conveyor belts. This causedseveral problems including the simpletransfer of product. We had to bridge thegap between each conveyor and wereconstantly adjusting the speed of thebelts. Without an operator constantlymonitoring the machines, the clamshellswould get stuck, pile up and eventuallyspill over onto the floor.

A change was in order and we spokewith our label distributor Taylor-Made,Lake Oswego, Ore., about any recom-mendations or potential solutions theymight suggest. After talking to themabout our needs they immediately sug-gested Label-Aire’s Model 3015 Wipe-On Primary Applicator to apply ourtop labels and their 3111 with hot stampimprinter to apply a sealing label. Wehad Label-Aire products already in ourfacility and liked the idea that it would

be easy to bring our operators up tospeed on the new machines.

Taylor-Made explained that both the3015 and 3111 would offer us the speedand accuracy we needed at a cost effectiveprice. Each was designed to lower operat-ing costs while increasing productivity.

The equipment also offered flexibil-ity. Not only can the labelers be easilyconverted to left- or right-hand use, bothcan also apply labels to the top, side orbottom of products.

From the beginning of our investiga-tion into new machines until they wereup and running took about six months,but the actual installation was a meretwo days. The controllers were similar towhat we had in the past and Taylor-Made helped smooth the transition.

After installation our line was able toapply two labels per clamshell at 100 to125 ppm, much more accurately than inthe past.

Label-Aire - www.label-aire.comTaylor Made Labels -www.taylormadelabels.com

W

MachineryLends a HandA MOVE TO A NEW MACHINE INCREASED OUTPUT,

WHILE REDUCING MANPOWER.

By incorporating new Label-Aire labelers,Berry Fresh achieved increased productivityin the same amount of space, while reducingmanpower.

inter F A C El a b e l i n g m a d e e a s y

Winding Design

Labels wound on the Outside of roll

Choose the Direction for your labeling application

Design printed across roll. Top of design leading into machine.

Design printed across roll. Bottom of design leading into machine.

Design printed across roll. Top of design leading into machine.

Design printed across roll. Bottom of design leading into machine.

Design printed with the roll. Right-hand side of design leading into machine.

Design printed with the roll. Left-hand side of design leading into machine.

Design printed with the roll. Right-hand side of design leading into machine.

Design printed with the roll. Left-hand side of design leading into machine.

Labels wound on the Inside of roll

Headquarters550 Burning Tree RoadFullerton, CA 92833 USA

o 714.441.0700f 714.526.0300 e info@label-aire.comw www.label-aire.com

EuropeSjaellandsuej 27ADK-9500 Hobro, Denmark

o +45 9657 0063f +45 9657 0064e info@label-aire.comw www.label-aire.com

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

Label-Air Reprint_PMT 10/5/10 1:47 PM Page 1