FDBusiness.com

Wagg Foods, a leading producer of high-quality pet food, has increased its OEE efficiency by 30%, secured its packaging lines from errors and ensured full compliance with retailers’ code of practice with OAL Connected, a modular suite of packaging line software.

Known for its laser-focus on quality, nutrition and product development, Wagg Foods prides itself on its BRC (British Retail Consortium) accreditation, meaning its products meet human quality standards. To safeguard this reputation, the company was looking to eliminate human errors and improve its operational efficiency.

Wagg Foods was attracted to the OAL Connected system as it offers tried and trusted label and date code verification with the option to easily expand functionality. At its core, the automated system verifies the labels, packaging and date codes on every product. The same system can then be used for factory performance monitoring, offering the real-time data and metrics required to implement a successful continuous improvement, OEE programme. Additional functionality also includes paperless quality checks and checkweigher links to ensure full traceability.

Andrew Horkan, Continuous Improvement Engineer, explains why Wagg Foods chose OAL Connected: “OAL understood how important brand and reputation was to us. They really took the opportunities and challenges that we were facing as a company into consideration when planning the installation. This high level of understanding is what gave OAL the edge against others.”

The OAL Autocoding label and date code verification module places control of the packaging line with Wagg’s technical team rather than operators on the line, ensuring compliance with retailers’ codes of practice.

The automated system links a master database of products, scanners, printers and touchscreen PCs on the production line. The same touchscreen PC on the production line can then record product counts and downtime reason codes, replacing existing manual production logs. As part of a continuous improvement strategy, Wagg Foods used this accurate and reliable data and reporting to drive improvements. Operational managers can then predict and plan their factory more efficiently using the collated data.

Working with the OAL team, Wagg foods has been able to further protect its brand against product recalls related to label and date code errors. The company has also improved its overall equipment efficiency by 30% and is looking to broaden the installation on to further lines.