Oil-dri

Challenge

Oil-Dri Corporation mines, manufacturers, packages and distributes a variety of products at their operation in Ripley, Mississippi. They were preparing to launch a premium brand of cat litter and knew speed-to-market was critical. Their plan included increased production speed and volume, which meant they needed a more productive packaging line. One that included more throughput and better automation for the brand's F-style jug containers.

Veritiv solution

Veritiv created a custom jug container line that was successfully weaved into their current operations. It consisted of a debagging table, stretch sleever, check weigher and case erector–just to name a few. While this line was being engineered and implemented, the team at Veritiv used Oil-Dri's existing equipment to ensure packaging operations did not stop. And then retrofitted key elements into the new line.

Additionally, the Veritiv Design Center collaborated with Oil-Dri to develop a new wrap-around shipping case that decreased material costs and product damage.

Results

Oil-Dri's new line helped their premium brand get to market months faster than previously planned. It also consolidated five machine centers into two, which cut down on changeover and maintenance times. Productivity increased to 38 CPM, and three FTEs per shift were offset. What's more, the new wrap-around case reduced material costs by approximately 10%, and decreased product damage from 20% to 2%.