Kenny’s Candy and Confections—part of KLN Family Brands—was operating without automation when it reached out to packaging experts and Fanuc Authorized System Integrator Delkor Systems. In an effort to increase productivity, the company worked with Delkor to develop and install automated lines, achieving higher packaging rate goals while at the same time creating more valuable jobs for employees.                                           

Challenges included:

• Limited indirect productivity due to manual line support
• Monotonous and dull jobs that didn’t challenge employees
• Unrealized efficiency in the packaging process

Results:     

• Increased indirect productivity
• Employees gain valuable skills as automation operators
• Flexible systems allows for adaptability as needed

The automation story:

Created with the goal of making a better-tasting, better-chewing licorice than anyone else, Kenny’s Candy joined KLN Family Brands in 1987 in a small Minnesota town named Perham. But inside their facility, where premium licorice like the Wiley Wallaby brand is packaged, manual packaging—requiring employees stationed at the end of every line—meant that opportunities to optimize existed.

An introduction to Fanuc Authorized System Integrator, Delkor Systems, led the candy maker to invest in its first automated lines, which increased packaging rates and led to an immediate boost in productivity. 

Not only did the packaging line process realize sizeable efficiencies, employees that had once been stationed at the end of lines were relocated to higher value roles, and those that now work with the automated system have gained additional marketable skills. 

By automating multiple packaging lines that incorporate Fanuc's series of M-10 industrial robots, the fastest handling robot in its class, the company is now able to achieve rates of up to 60 or 70 packages a minute into cases, which would have overwhelmed prior manual support. 

Working with Delkor ensured a smooth integration, says KLN Family Brands, while noting that no new system introduction is without its bumps. "The thing I really like about working with Delkor is just how willing and eager they are to help us anytime that we give them a call. What was really beneficial was just having that continuous support from the engineers, from our aftermarket sales team," says Seth Johnson, process engineer at Kenny’s Candy. 

A third-generation family-owned company, KLN Family Brands is headquartered in Perham, MN and is comprised of Tuffy’s Pet Foods and Tuffy’s Treat Company, manufacturers of NutriSource and Kenny’s Candy & Confections. Kenny’s Candy & Confections, established in 2015, produces candy and snack brands that include Wiley Wallaby and Sweet Chaos.

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