Raw In-Shell Peanuts Case Study 1024
Automated Bulk Bag Filling System Streamlines Peanut Processing
704-246-0900 info@spiroflowsystems.com www.spiroflowsystems.com 1609 Airport Road, Monroe NC 28110
Golden Grove founder Lee Swinson, a peanut farmer in Eastern North Carolina, sells his Carolina/Virginia-style peanuts to wholesalers around the world. While some peanuts are made into candy and some are roasted, packaged and sold to retailers, the majority of the 10,000 ton harvest is left raw and sold in bulk. The company’s raw in-shell peanuts are packed in 900 lb bulk bags and shipped to customers around the world. As this wholesale business grew, Swinson saw opportunities to improve bulk bag filling efficiencies.
Customer Requirements Golden Grove employees were manually filling 20 bulk bags per day. Three filling stations each contained a hopper fitted with a slide gate and a scale positioned below. An operator would open the slide gate allowing the peanuts to fall into the bulk bag until the bag was within +/- 2 lb of the target 900 lb weight. The process was extremely slow and labor intensive. Weighing accuracies could be improved to increase profitability as well.
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