This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
Packaging Strategies logo
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Packaging Strategies logo
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Archives
    • The Packaging Guide
    • Design Gallery Directory
  • Featured
    • Packaging Perspectives Podcasts
    • Packaging News
    • New Packages
    • Web Exclusives
    • Blogs
    • Supply Side
    • Supplier Products
    • Top Food Packaging Companies
    • Top Beverage Packaging Companies
  • PS News
    • Digital Editions
    • Special Reports
    • Subscribe
    • Sample Issue
    • Reprints
    • Customer Service
  • Machinery
    • Automation / Controls
    • Case Forming / Packing / Sealing
    • Cartoning
    • Coding / Marking / Printing
    • Components / Parts
    • Conveyors
    • Form-Fill-Seal / Filling & Closing
    • Inspection / Detection / Vision
    • Labeling
    • Unitizing / Palletizing
    • Robotics
    • Track & Trace / Serialization
  • Vertical Markets
    • Beer / Wine / Spirits Packaging
    • Beverage Packaging
    • Candy / Confectionery
    • Dairy Food Packaging
    • Food Service Packaging
    • Household Packaging
    • Meat / Seafood Packaging
    • Personal Care Packaging
    • Pet Food Packaging
    • Pharma / Medical Packaging
    • Produce Packaging
    • Snack Food Packaging
  • Materials
    • Adhesives / Sealants
    • Beverage Multipacks
    • Blister Packaging
    • Cans & Bottles
    • Closures/Lids
    • Films & Coatings
    • Flexible Packaging
    • Labels
    • Paperboard / Corrugated / Cartons
    • Rigid Containers
    • Sustainable Packaging
  • Brand Packaging
    • Design Gallery Directory
  • Events
    • Converters Expo
    • Converters Expo South
    • Global Pouch Forum
    • Industry Events
    • Webinars
  • More
    • Videos
      • Pack Expo 2019 Videos
      • PMMI video series
    • Book Store
    • Classifieds
    • Custom Content & Marketing Services
    • eBook
    • eXTRA eNewsletter
    • Interactive Product Spotlights
    • Market Research
    • The Packaging Guide
    • Polls
    • White Papers
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Home » 2009 PLANTS OF THE YEAR: 'DAIRY'-ing to be different

2009 PLANTS OF THE YEAR: 'DAIRY'-ing to be different

February 1, 2009
Randy Hofbauer
Reprints
No Comments
From on-site blow molding to multipack innovations, HP Hood’s Winchester facility knows how to bottle up and go.

HP Hood’s Winchester, Va., plant is a beacon of efficiency. Its nine packaging lines, which operate 24/7, don’t seem to know the meaning of the word “quit.”

The plant, which was originally built in 2000 and expanded over the next four years, rests in the historic Shenandoah Valley and serves markets east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as Walmart stores across the U.S., by way of key transportation arteries by which the plant is strategically located.

HP Hood packs several different product lines here, including Lactaid and other Hood brands such as Calorie Countdown, as well as some dairy and non-dairy beverages for others. And while product demand has increased, Hood has continually updated its technology to meet those needs. In 2008, the plant processed some 100 million gallons.


Fill 'er up!

No plant can be without its workhorse, and Winchester boasts several for filling and packaging.

On the aseptic side, a Shibuya aseptic filler was installed in 2005, which can fill up to 600 bottles per minute, according to Jim Sylvester, senior director of operations at the Winchester facility. Every 30 minutes, a computer prints out data that shows whether or not the filler is meeting operation parameters. If the data isn’t printed in green, which signifies that the equipment is performing as it should, then adjustments are made as needed.

As for extended shelf life (ESL), a separate room houses two active Serac fillers, which assures a sterile environment. It is made up of three sections: one for sterilization with a hydrogen peroxide solution, one for rinsing bottles with sterile water and one where bottles are filled and capped with a foil seal.

And just like how Mom made everything from scratch, Hood’s Winchester facility performs on-site blow molding. The site features a Sidel blow-molding machine, which can make up to 34,000 bottles per hour. It was installed in 2004 and became a vital addition to the filler, which previously gave blowmolders a run for their money, simply because they could not keep up. Since then, it has worked to keep up with increasing demand.

“It’s really helped our efficiency,” says Marc Humphreys, operations manager at the Winchester facility. “[The blow molder] runs faster than the filling machines, so when they fill the line, it shuts off.”


Bountiful bottles

Hood is also taking a forward stride in innovation with its bottles. It uses polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles with materials supplied by Graham Packaging.

Although ESL plastic packaging has been around for several years, further developments of the aseptic single-serve plastic container continue.

“In 2008, our customers, as well as consumers, were adapting more to this product than they were before,” says Scott Blake, senior vice president of operations for HP Hood. “It allows our customers to use different channels to get their product to market in the aseptic area.”

The advantage that Hood’s customers can reap is in being able to use distributors that don’t have cold chain refrigeration capabilities. This also opens up new markets for those customers.


Moo-ving into multipacks

Currently, the biggest project the plant is working on is putting together four- and six-pack multipack options for its customers in the aseptic field. This is an ambitious product, and they’re working closely with Douglas Machine to make sure the project is a success.

“Obviously, you see a lot of multipacks out there, like the Tetra Brik type. But there aren’t a lot of multipacks out there when you get into the plastic arena,” says Blake. “It’s coming, particularly in the aseptic side of the business. It will be more and more prevalent in 2009.”

For Hood, multipacks open a new channel of business, allowing products to be sold at club stores. While it may be too early to tell, Blake says he expects the multipacks will be even more popular than the single-serve products.


HP Hood’s Winchester facility’s warehouse, which has more than 19,000 pallet spaces, has an efficient computer-controlled storage and retrieval system for plastic packaged products that pulls pallets based on load-out priority.

The warehouse side

After bottle preforms are blow molded, filled, capped and sleeved, they are palletized and wrapped. Each pallet is labeled with a code that determines whether it goes to the “paper” or “plastic” side of the warehouse.

The warehouse has more than 19,000 pallet spaces, and while pallets holding paper-packaged products are manually forklifted, plastic-packaged products have a computer-controlled storage and retrieval system that pulls pallets based on priority for load-out.

“This plant produces so much so fast, if a line goes down, it’s like dominoes-everything’s got to fall into place,” says Humphreys.

And while having innovative equipment is important for a plant to operate, it’s only useful if the staff knows how to use it. The plant is constantly training its employees, including regular refresher classes held between scheduled sessions, as well as yearly computer training and tests that must be done by everyone.

An in-house quality team also keeps food safety a priority. Peggy Poole, Hood’s vice president of quality systems and regulatory affairs, points out that the company’s quality management system includes food safety initiatives such as ingredient testing, lot trace and recall, in-process quality control, supplier testing and requirements, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, allergen controls, transportation guidelines, split sample programs and bio-security guidelines.

“When it was started up with all new people, the challenge was training everybody to get it running efficiently,” says Blake. “Today, it’s one of the most efficient facilities in the industry.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Background for this article was provided by James Dudlicek, chief editor of Dairy Foods, a sister publication of Food & Beverage Packaging.

Douglas Machine Inc.
320-763-6587; www.douglas-machine.com
Graham Packaging
717-849-8500; www.grahampackaging.com
Serac
630-510-9343; www.serac-group.com
Shibuya-Hoppman Corp.
800-368-3582; www.shibuya-int.com
Sidel
678-221-3000; www.sidel.com


AT-A-GLANCE

Company: HP Hood LLC
Plant location: Winchester, Va.
Size: 441,500 square feet
Employees: 400
Operating hours: 24 hours per day, seven days per week
Products: Milks, creams, non-dairy, specialty beverages (protein/sports drinks)
Packaging: PET, HDPE, paper gable top
No. of packaging lines: 9 (8 ESL and 1 aseptic)

PS Subscribe

Recent Articles by Randy Hofbauer

2009 PLANTS OF THE YEAR: Engineers produce unique candy carton

Good-for-you juice sells better in good-for-us-all packaging

UNCONTAINED: Recession proofing: Share the wealth by touting health!

UNCONTAINED: Plastic loses class: It's the glass, glass, glass!

Randy Hofbauer is the previous Associate Editor.

Related Articles

2009 PLANTS OF THE YEAR: Engineers produce unique candy carton

FOOD PACKAGER OF THE YEAR: Portion packs cater to on-the-go consumers

PACKAGE OF THE YEAR AWARDS: Designs innovate both outside and in

BEVERAGE LEADERS #1: Coca-Cola

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Subscription Center
  • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
  • eNewsletters
  • Online Registration
  • PS News
  • FAQ
  • Subscription Customer Service

More Videos

Packaging Strategies Poll Promotion

Events

February 12, 2020

Converters Expo South

Converters Expo South is a one day expo that unites converters of paper, film, plastics and nonwovens with industry buyers, specialists and suppliers. With hundreds of attendees expected, Converters Expo South will be the place to find manufacturing partners, check out testing and prototyping equipment, meet with producers of disposables and learn the latest in flexo printing and packaging.

April 29, 2020

Converters Expo

Your one-stop shop for all things converting is back in 2020 with additional exhibit space! Celebrating 13 years as the only one-day expo exclusively located in the Midwest, Converters Expo unites converters of paper, film, plastics and nonwovens with industry buyers, specialists and suppliers.

View All Submit An Event

Poll

Packaging Job Woes

What is your top worry about your role in packaging?
View Results Poll Archive

Products

Managing Packaging Design for Sustainable Development: A Compass for Strategic Directions

Managing Packaging Design for Sustainable Development: A Compass for Strategic Directions

See More Products

Packaging Perspectives Podcasts Promotion


PMMI interview today's packaging

Packaging Strategies

PS1119_Cover-144px.jpg

2019 November

In the November issue of Packaging Strategies, we feature a new trend: Re-commerce, brands and Generation Z, resealable closures in food packaging, a pretzel company with filling & weighing equipment for more productivity and much more!

View More Create Account
  • Helpful Links
    • List Rental
    • Editorial Guidelines
    • Submissions Guidelines
    • Survey And Sample
    • Packaging Brands
    • Partners
    • Polls
    • Want More?
    • Connect
    • Privacy Policy
    • Subscribe
  • PS News
    • Subscribe
    • Customer Service
    • FAQ
  • Packaging Group
    • Flexible Packaging
    • Packaging Strategies
  • Subscribe
    • Print & Digital Edition Subscriptions
    • eNewsletters
    • Online Registration
    • PS News
    • FAQ
    • Subscription Customer Service

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing