Do Pets Care About What the Treats Package Looks Like?

May 15, 2023

8”, 10”, or 12” pouches? If the kibble is good, dogs won’t stop to look at the packaging as they tear into it! But their people care, and that’s why packaging is a key sales driver for pet food and supplies products. Nercon conveyors help pet industry manufacturers capture market share as they test and deploy product packaging that attracts pet owners. Our conveyors gently handle raw and packaged pet food products to maintain their integrity and minimize physical damage.

Moving Products from A to B Better

Working with pet industry manufacturers for decades, we’ve found that flexibility in packaging configuration equates to performance. The flexibility we provide cuts down on changeover time and enables manufacturers to accommodate new or changed products without redesigning the line:

• We merged two independent flows of treat pouches into a single line quickly, allowing the line to feed a case packer faster. As a result, our customer was able to integrate an automated case-packing solution with this line.
   
• When two kibble products on the same line needed to divert to packaging lines in different directions, we developed a pivoting conveyor to achieve that goal. Our solution reduced changeover time, maintained a small line footprint, and enabled the manufacturer to avoid adding a separate line.
   
• In one facility, the optimal configuration for moving a canned food product required a sharp incline. When the typical conveyor solution didn’t meet the temperature rating needed for production, we worked with the manufacturer to find the right solution.

“We stand behind our products and we’re willing to engage until we can identify and implement the right solution,” said Brian Bancroft, Applications Group Manager, Nercon. “These are the building blocks for our lasting relationships with pet industry manufacturers.”

Experts in Primary and Secondary Packaging Conveyors

Nercon has an exceptional retention rate among our team members. That translates into a huge bank of conveyor solutions knowledge available to each pet industry manufacturer. Our mechanical designers, engineers, and assemblers have seen and solved some of the toughest product movement challenges across industries.

“The level of detail we provide in the quoting stage comes from not only listening but understanding our customers’ aims and constraints,” said Cory Stein, Account Manager, Nercon. “Being able to explain why a conveyor solution will or will not work for the application, and offering viable alternatives counts with pet industry manufacturers.”

Nercon Quality, Versatility, and Fast Lead Times

Nercon’s speed and consistency with lead times are a value-add for pet industry manufacturers. “We’ve found our pet products customers appreciate our short lead times for a variety of reasons,” said Stein. “They may need to make a small adjustment on a line that requires new equipment or want to reconfigure a line during a scheduled break. We can consistently deliver faster because we manufacture all of our conveyors in our Wisconsin facility. That gives us control over both quality and lead times.”

Nercon conveyors meet pet industry manufacturers’ needs across the production floor:

• HydroCore® is a family of hygienic conveyors designed to reduce bacterial harborage points while increasing up-time for maximum productivity. HydroCore conveyors ship within 6 to 8 weeks, standard. Read the technical specifications on HydroCore conveyors.
   
• ProCore® is a family of conveyors designed to increase performance reliability and equipment up-time. ProCore conveyors ship within 6 to 8 weeks, standard. View the ProCore conveyor family.

If you’d like more details about Nercon’s suitability for pet food and pet supplies production lines, get in touch with our experts at 844-293-2814 or contact us online. Let’s talk about new and efficient ways to meet your production schedule!

Serving Multiple Pet Industry Applications