FAMILY BRANDS KP MACHINE

R.A JONES' Modernization Team Saves Family Brands Money & Downtime

 
When Family Brands International, located in Lenoir City, Tennessee, approached R.A JONES’ Modernization Team with a service request for their chub machine, it was difficult for them to quickly establish the best service plan for the machine. The serial number had been removed from the equipment at some point in its production life, which is the quickest way for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to know what parts are needed for the job.
 
 
Based on the team's experience with KatridgPak Chub Machines, they estimated the machine was at least 25 years old. Though a testament to R.A JONES building quality machines that extend production well after customer expectations, this immediately caused some concerns as to whether or not the right parts would be available to help the customer. The team determined that the machine was indeed an older model with aged technology that included a C4 clipping head and undercarriage with parts that have become increasingly hard to find and set to become obsolete in the very near future. 
 
Refurbished Chub

 

Family Brands International was having a film registration issue on their KartridgPak chub packaging machine. The film registration system, which keeps the film in the proper location with respect to where the end clips are placed, was based on three rudimentary circuit boards on legacy equipment. The boards on their machine had become nonfunctional. This resulted in the chub package clips being crimped on the printed film area of the packaging, interfering with the packaging design, brand, and messaging. Because of various engineering enhancements implemented by R.A JONES, the KartridgPak chub machine has been improved dramatically over the years as new technology has become available, so a sustainable solution for the older machine was not a viable option. 
 
 
Thankfully, R.A JONES has strong relationships with many KatridgPak machine customers. There was an opportunity to enhance Family Brand’s chub packaging line by re-purposing a machine another customer was hoping to re-purpose at some point, but no longer had a use for.


By helping negotiate the buying/selling of the pre-owned machine, R.A JONES helped the selling company recoup some of their financial investment, while Family Brands was able to solve their chub packaging challenges without the out of pocket expense of building a new machine. With a rebuild of new electrical controls, including our modern standard and an upgrade of the M7 clipping head and undercarriage, we were able to provide a reliable and supportable machine for Family Brands that also increased their production speed. R.A JONES also provided on-site training, installation, and spare parts increasing the value of the project for Family Brands. The legacy machine is now equipped with newer technology that will last well into the future. Who knows, maybe another 25+ years!
 
 
Tim Wampler, the Vice President of Family Brands, LLC said, “We love our new KP and it has solved a bunch of headaches”. 
 
The modernization team at R.A Jones was able to identify, address, and solve the production problems outlined by Family Brands, while helping another customer offload equipment no longer needed for production. The knowledge, experience, and customer relationships R.A Jones’ customer service team members have is unmatched in the industry and brings tremendous value to manufacturers across the globe.This helps R.A JONES remain one of the best packaging equipment manufacturers in the world.
 
If you have aging R.A JONES equipment and interested in available modernization and/or service packages, visit services, email info@rajones.com, or call 1.800.216.4499.
 
 
R.A JONES is a global leader in the design and manufacture of primary and secondary packaging machinery for the food, pharmaceutical, dairy and consumer goods industries. R.A JONES is a part of Coesia, a group of innovation-based industrial and packaging solutions companies operating globally and headquartered in Bologna, Italy.
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