Case Study
R&D Product, Machine, and Process Design for Paper Packaging Manufacturer Supporting an Online Grocery Delivery Division of a Leading Distribution & Logistics Company
Project Snapshot
A client needed to develop a thermally insulated bag for a national online groceries home delivery client. Sterling conducted concept trials to assess product performance and then designed a prototype pilot line to prove process scalability. Sterling designed the machines / mechanisms, managed the fabrication, installation and validation of the pilot line. Sterling produced a full engineering documentation package (including training / troubleshooting & operator training manuals) so that multiple production lines could be built.
Project Challenges
- 40 new production lines were required to meet the annual production volumes needed. Therefore, the new technology needed to be retrofitted into existing packaging lines to minimize the capital expenditures.
- Various multi-national companies needed to coordinate their executive, engineering, production and legal teams to protect intellectual property while still allowing each company to make key contributions to accelerate the R&D.
- Due to the new technology and the tight deadline constraints, R&D, production line design, build and test needed to be developed concurrently.
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Sterling's Solution
Coordinated a team of engineers to assess technologies, design/fabricate a pilot production line and eventually a scaled production line in an accelerated R&D schedule.
Packaging lines modified with vision cameras, high speed applicators and 100kW microwave oven.
After conducting proof of concept trials, a pilot production line was design and built for full scale testing. Testing included validation of maximum production speeds, identification of machine failure modes and optimization of process settings to maximize product quality.
Online grocery home delivery requires sustainable packaging capable of maintaining safe food temperatures during distribution, transportation and delivery to home doorsteps.
Packaging needs to be compostable / recyclable so that tens of billions of units can be sustainably manufactured annually.
Since 1969, Sterling has been focused on cultivating relationships and is in the business of building trust.
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