Food Packaging Automation - case study

Context and Objectives

• Product portfolio: mayonnaise, tartar sauce, and related products – packed in glass jars (250–500 ml) and single-portion pouches (100 ml).
• Original state – glass jars: older group packaging using paper tray and shrink film; increasing maintenance demands; initiative to switch to recyclable cardboard.
• Original state – pouches: after filling, the pouches were transported on a long conveyor → rotary table → manually placed into display boxes, manually strapped and palletized (around 6 people at the end of the line).
• Space limitations: the customer had strict height and footprint constraints.

Project goals

• Jars: switch to fully cardboard food packaging and automate cartoning and palletizing.
• Automate pouch collation, cartoning, and palletizing.
• Connect the new equipment to existing filling and packaging machines.
• Deliver a compact solution suited to the required capacity and available space.

Nomatech Solution

1) Jars: CASE-G Case Packer – Eco-Friendly Food Packaging in Cartons

The CASE-G cartoning line is designed for cartoning multiple jar formats. It operates at up to 14 cartons per minute, with a fully automated process.
The system groups the required number of products, forms and folds a carton from a blank, and horizontally inserts the prepared group of products using an inserter.
The carton is then closed, sealed, and transferred to an output conveyor for robotic palletizing by ROBO PAL.
All functions are controlled via a touchscreen, and carton size adjustment is handled through an adjustable format matrix.

2) Pouches: Automation of Single-Portion Food Packaging

The second part of the project focused on automating the packaging of 100 ml pouches containing mayonnaise and tartar sauce.
Nomatech developed the CASE-B cartoning line featuring a smart sorting, counting, and cartoning system for pouches.
It was designed to integrate directly with the existing filler while fitting within the tight space constraints.

At the filler outlet, the original slide and conveyor were replaced by a servo-driven indexing conveyor, which:

• creates uniform gaps for precise counting,
• accelerates pouches,
• diverts pouches into transfer pockets.

“With jars, it was easier – they’re rigid, uniform, and predictable. But with soft pouches of varying viscosity, where mayonnaise behaves differently from tartar sauce, that was a real challenge. We had to design the entire sorting and counting system from scratch.”
 — Herbert Zirm, Sales Representative, Nomatech

The electronically controlled servo-driven system groups the required number of pouches, forms and glues a carton from a blank, fills it with the pouches, and closes it.
The cartons are then sealed and moved to the output conveyor for robotic palletizing by ROBO PAL.

Commissioning and Fine-Tuning

The Nomatech equipment was first fully assembled and tested at the manufacturer’s site as part of the FAT (Factory Acceptance Test).
Since it was not possible to fully simulate the filling output for pouches, part of the fine-tuning took place directly at the customer’s production site.
During this phase, mechanical components, sensors, and software were adjusted until the line achieved the desired quality, precision, and stability.
Our technicians also trained the customer’s operators and maintenance team.
The same people who build and test the machines in-house are also the ones who install, commission, and hand them over to the customer – meaning they know every detail and can respond quickly to any situation during on-site testing.

Project Results

Glass jars

• More sustainable packaging: transition from tray pads and PE film to fully cardboard group packaging.
• Compact solution: high performance within a limited footprint.
• Expansion: additional 500 ml format added later.

Pouches

• Labor savings: staff at the end of the line reduced from 6 to about 2 people.
• Error reduction: precise counting and grouping of 20 pouches per box.
• Performance: limited by the pouch filler output; automation removed the manual bottleneck rather than increasing the filling rate.
• Safety & ergonomics: operators no longer handle heavy boxes for long periods; work is safer and more sustainable.

Three Years in Operation

Both CASEPACKERS have been in continuous operation for three years.
The customer has since expanded the range with a new 500 ml format, for which part of the line was adapted.
Thanks to well-trained operators and an experienced maintenance team, both lines reliably handle seasonal peaks, producing thousands of food packages per day.

Would a Similar Solution Work for You?

Get in touch – we’ll be happy to show you how Nomatech packaging machines help food producers make their packaging more efficient.