Herr Foods Boosts Snack Production with Intralox end-of-line Packaging Solutions

A comprehensive modernization of end-of-line and palletizing operations has enabled Herr Foods to significantly boost throughput, expand production capacity, and achieve substantial cost savings, following a strategic collaboration with Intralox and Conveyor & Automation Technologies. The project replaced a 25-year-old system while maintaining uninterrupted production and utilizing the company’s existing facility footprint.

Customer Objectives and System Challenges

Established in 1946 and headquartered in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, Herr Foods is a leading family-owned snack manufacturer whose products are distributed across all 50 U.S. states and more than 40 countries. To keep pace with increasing demand, the company sought to upgrade its aging end-of-line infrastructure, which relied on shoe sorters and two palletizers that required extensive maintenance.

The legacy system caused more than a week of downtime annually for repairs and component replacements, costing approximately USD 100,000 each year. In addition to improving reliability, Herr Foods needed a solution capable of supporting higher throughput, accommodating future capacity growth, and fitting within the existing operational footprint.

Although the company initially preferred to work with the original system integrator, the proposed upgrade exceeded the project budget by USD 2 million and did not fully align with operational goals. After evaluating alternatives, Herr Foods partnered with Conveyor & Automation Technologies, a systems integrator founded in 2003 in Sparks Glencoe, Maryland, specializing in customized conveyor, sorting, robotics, electrical control, and packaging solutions for the food and beverage sector.

Conveyor & Automation presented two tailored proposals that remained within budget, met footprint constraints, and addressed throughput and scalability requirements, making them the preferred partner for the project.

Implementation and Measurable Operational Results

Conveyor & Automation selected Intralox as the conveyance technology partner based on prior positive experience with its sorting solutions, industry-leading technology, and flexible system design capabilities. Through close collaboration among the three companies, the project was divided into two phases to ensure no disruption to ongoing operations.

The newly designed system incorporated:

• One Activated Roller Belt (ARB) Registration S900 
• Three ARB Switches S7000 (2:2)
• One Dual-Stacked Angled Roller Belt (DARB) Sorter S4500 
• One ARB Passive Off S400 
• Four Conveyor & Automation palletizers

Specialized teams—including sorter specialists, switch technicians, and palletizer experts—were mobilized to ensure efficient installation and commissioning.

Gus Sarikas, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Conveyor & Automation:

"We wanted to provide a best-in-class solution for sortation, as well as use the footprint wisely to add production capability. The Intralox 2:2 merge sections and the DARB sortation provided a solution to both of those parameters."

Results

The results were significant. Throughput increased by 25%, rising from 120 cartons per minute to 150 cartons per minute, providing greater flexibility for handling multiple SKUs during the same production shift. System capacity expanded from 12 lines to 20 lines, enabling Herr Foods to manage approximately 600 SKUs—double the previous 300—while maintaining consistent production levels and creating room for future scalability. 

The optimized layout also increased cases per buffer line by 1.5%, while improved flexibility and redundancy ensure production can continue at no less than 50% capacity even during disruptions. 

Financial benefits were equally substantial. The new palletizers improved wrap tensioning, reduced manual labor requirements, and lowered supply costs, generating approximately USD 400,000 in annual savings. Eliminating pallet corner boards delivered an additional USD 250,000 per year in cost reductions. Furthermore, the ability to stack pallets directly optimized warehouse space, eliminated the need for storage racks, and produced further savings.

Safety improvements were achieved through the removal of manual labeling and corner-board placement tasks, combined with the installation of safety fencing, creating a safer working environment for employees. 

Herr Foods expressed strong satisfaction with the outcomes of the collaboration and indicated interest in continuing to work with both Intralox and Conveyor & Automation Technologies to further enhance operational efficiency in the future.