A large nutraceutical company formulates and packages sports nutrition products all across the United States. Founded in 1999, the company has become a leader in the formulation, production, and packaging of products for the nutraceutical and sports nutrition market.

The company's two facilities, in Ontario and New York, ship 3,000 SKUs to over 90 countries. At these plants, the company creates private label products for sale in 40-50 countries. Both facilities are large (100,000 square feet in Brantford, Ontario and 70,000 square feet in New York) and busy (2 shifts operating 3 production lines in Canada, 3 shifts maintaining 4 lines on the other side of the border). Maintaining high standards of efficiency to meet shipping deadlines and client demands is a must.

The Challenge

All of the company’s products are in powder form and during packaging, the powder accumulates on the exterior of the plastic bottles. One full-time employee (FTE) had the job of wiping each bottle down after the capper and before the steam tunnel. However, the accumulated dust in the air of the plant, combined with the static charge of the bottles, meant that after each wiping, dust immediately adhered to the bottles again. As Joe McLaughlin, Plant Manager at the Ontario facility, described the situation, “due to the static environment, the dust jumped back on the bottles.”

Attempts to speed up production only exacerbated the problem. Increased line speeds resulted in more static – meaning that more dust would build up on the bottles. In order to minimize the static and dust on the bottles, line speeds had to be kept slow. Even with slower production speeds, the last few bottles of each run tended to have the largest accumulation of dust.

The type of bottles used also contributed to the problem with dust and static. Sixty percent of the company's products are packaged in PET black bottles with a gloss finish. These type of bottles hold more static charge than HDPE bottles. As a result, PET bottles emerged from the filler carrying a large volume of dust.

The Solution

The nutraceutical company had the opportunity to preview Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing System at the Pack Expo showcase in 2018. Immediately following the event, the company reached out to a Paxton Products distributor and asked for help. At their request, one of Paxton’s distributors, Eckert Machines, visited the Ontario plant to assess the situation. The Eckert Machines’ representative immediately perceived that Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing System would efficiently and effectively resolve the persistent issue with the powder and static.

How the Solution was Implemented

Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing System was installed at the Brantford plant, along with a custom-designed dust enclosure. The dust enclosure is designed to contain the powdery dust by using a high efficiency vacuum system. The enclosure runs at a negative pressure to ensure that all the powder is successfully collected. The system then blows ionized air to eliminate the static holding the powder to the bottles and uses Paxton’s high efficiency PX-series centrifugal blowers to blow the dust into the dust collection vacuum system.

The company now uses a Paxton 20 hp PX-series centrifugal blower with polypropylene washdown enclosure for noise dampening. The blower is equipped with three of Paxton’s ionizing air knives – one 12” knife for the top, two 18” knives for the sides. While the system is installed on only one line currently, the blower was sized to run two lines, so currently the unit is throttled using a variable frequency drive.

Since the company's plants must meet food-grade standards, having the ability to easily clean the system was one of the client’s priorities. Everything in the new installation was delivered by the experienced Paxton Products team and one of Paxton’s distributors, Eckert Machines.

Measuring Success

The company experienced an immediate Return on Investment (ROI) based on re-deployment of the two FTE’s whose former job was to wipe dust off of bottles. Overall, this resulted in a savings of $30,000/employee. Additionally, the elimination of dust within the plant has also created a cleaner, healthier environment for the employees. Installation of the new system also resulted in another, unanticipated bonus in product quality. The powder granules which previously stuck to bottles after wiping caused the labels to have bumps. The new technology was luckily able to successfully eliminate this minor defect in product appearance.

Ongoing Success and Client Comments

Nearly one year after the initial installation of the new system, Paxton’s Ionizing Air System continues to perform reliably at the Ontario plant. The company plans to install a second system in this plant, and to bring the same technology to their New York facility. When asked to grade the performance of Paxton’s Ionizing Rinsing System, the Ontario Plant Manager Joe McLaughlin stated that the system is “exceptional.” His colleague, Maintenance Manager Charlie Lyver said “This machine works wonders.” Lyver also noted that the Paxton Products equipment is “easily cleaned and very quiet.”