Hand capping worked just fine initially, but with demand increase, it’s not cutting it anymore.
Production is going gangbusters. Your company is picking up sales all around the country. Profits have soared. Everything is going swimmingly. But then reports started coming in that caps have been screwed on too loose or too tight and have even been cross threaded, spoiling your product and tarnishing your reputation. What's going on?
As it turns out, the employees capping your bottles just can't keep up. Hand capping worked just fine in the beginning, but with the pressure of increased sales resulting in a hurried production pace, capping has gotten sloppy.
Employees who were capping bottles with precision at the beginning of their shift have become exhausted by the end. Some workers are even getting repetitive strain injuries. To keep up with sales and maintain a faster production pace, automation is the next logical step. Let's take a look at the benefits of switching over to a semi-automatic capping machine like the CP-10.
Consistency
Gauging how tight a cap has been screwed on is a simple task. But after an 8-hour shift, fatigue sets in, and what was an easy job becomes almost mind-numbing. A tired employee improperly applying a cap can lead to spoiled products, which could eventually lead to a tarnished reputation. A capping machine uses even, consistent pressure to ensure each cap gets tightened the exact amount needed. You don't have to worry about a machine experiencing the Friday productivity dip; instead, you get consistently applied caps from the moment bottling begins to the moment it ends.
Machines make quick work of capping. Pack Leader USA's CP-10 uses four rotating spindles to grip the cap and screw it down while a central spindle presses the cap from the top. Every cap receives the same motion to ensure proper tightness. You can see just how quickly caps are secured in this video.
Avoiding Injuries
Humans weren't meant to make the same motion over and over again. Almost 2 million U.S. workers will experience a repetitive strain injury like carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or tendonitis every year and take an average of 23 days to recover. While handheld capping machines can alleviate much of the strain, potential injury and human error would not be eliminated — bottles can still be knocked over, caps overtightened, etc.
However, with the CP-10 semi-automatic capper, the only thing an employee has to do is place the cap on the bottle before it runs through the machine. The machine does the hard work of actually screwing on the cap. Instead of experiencing the strain of repetitive motion, employees who were formerly capping can be reallocated to other areas of your operation.
Speed
To really make sure caps get screwed on properly, employees who hand cap bottles will be applying as few as 10 per minute. Of course, that doesn't factor in breaks, bathroom trips, or lunch. Plus, capping by hand is tiring. An employee's pace will slow down throughout the day. Pack Leader USA's CP-10 semi-automatic capping machine can cap 25 bottles per hour with no breaks needed. Even though an employee still needs to place the caps on the bottles, this is a far easier task and doesn't require strenuous repetitive motions that will slow down through the hours of a work shift.
Reliability
When the production line starts running in the morning, you know your equipment will be there, ready to work. What’s more is that in 2018, workers took an average of 4.4 sick days per year, compared to 0 for machines. With a semi-automatic capping machine, you get reliability in performance, too. No dropped or spilled bottles due to human error. Also, because backup units are recommended, if you have auxiliary cappers in case your primary capper experiences a malfunction, you won't experience any downtime and performance will be reliable. Replacing one employee with another might have completely different results with one being faster or slower, more consistent, or sloppier in their capping.
You can rely on Pack Leader USA machines. They are made from 304 stainless steel and anodized aluminum for excellent rust and wear resistance to withstand the harshest production environments. You can expect them to be robust and maintain alignment, and you have access to 24/7 service when there's something that needs repair or maintenance.
Integration
Belt-fed capping machines can slot right into a production line. Rather than having an employee try to keep pace with a constantly moving conveyor, having capping equipment means that bottles transition smoothly and automatically from one machine to the next. You can set the speed to create an efficient, unbroken line with a predictable production rate.
The CP-10 capper can also be paired with the Pack Leader USA FL-12 automatic filling machine. Filled bottles exit the FL-12 on a conveyor and are fed right into the CP-10 requiring no employee involvement other than to place the caps on the bottles for the machine to tighten.
Learn About Our Capping Equipment
You don’t have to put up with poorly applied caps on your production line. Whether your employees can’t keep up with the fast pace or you just want more consistency, adding a semi-automatic capping machine may be just the ticket for getting better control over your production process. One investment now can save costly headaches later.
Pack Leader USA's CP-10 semi-automatic capping machine will give you the edge you need to make production soar. Pair it with Pack Leader's FL-12 for the ultimate filling and capping solution. Don't let poorly applied caps ruin your booming business. Upgrade to a dedicated capping machine and let your dedicated employees be more helpful and productive in other areas of your operation.
