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will be equipped with highly automated systems to package these small bags directly into larger boxes. We believe there is an underserved segment within our category, and we are now enhancing our capabilities to serve that market effectively,” Pablo elaborates.
Enhancing efficiencies
As evidenced by the opening of the multipack location, automation has played a central role in Shearer’ s investment strategy over the past few years and is helping to promote safety within the company’ s operations.“ Since the pandemic, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in automation capabilities across all plants,” Pablo says.“ During that time, attracting labor for unskilled work in our facilities became harder, which represented a significant opportunity for improving employee safety, as that work often involves a lot of manual labor. For example, the
processes of bagging and boxing products involve many manual operations and repetitive tasks that can lead to safety issues and injuries.
“ To counter these issues and foster a safer work environment, we have automated a lot of our backend operations on our production lines, and we have collaborated with our customers to standardize our packaging. This not only enhances the quality and service we provide our customers but also lowers our costs over time. With that being said, it is important to note that these automation efforts were not solely focused on productivity but were essential for us to serve our customers during a period when labor availability was a significant challenge,” Pablo adds.
At the Dayton multipack facility, Shearer’ s is also implementing a new ERP system, Microsoft Dynamics, which will improve efficiency and collaboration across operations. Similarly, the company
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