Tray-Pak has put forward an idea that not only meets customers' expectations for improving operational efficiency, but also, through redesign, has an impact on shelf appeal and retail sales that exceeds expectations. 
     Challenge
   The current packaging method of an Italian specialty meat company (a customer of Tay-Pak) for its range of meat and cheese rolls (panini) is inefficient. The products are manually rolled and placed on large baking trays, then transferred to the forming-filling-sealing machine's forming trays with a spatula. One of the main challenges the company faces is that the panini often break apart due to being handled multiple times during production. Additionally, during tray loading, the rolled panini frequently come into contact with the sealing flange of the tray, leaving oil marks in the sealing area. As a result, the trays cannot be properly sealed, causing production to be interrupted. 
    Solution
   The engineering and design team of Tray-Pak set out to develop a tailor-made solution to improve the customer's production process and reduce excessive product loss in the factory workshop. During the project research stage, the Tray-Pak team also identified several minor issues occurring during the production and retail stages. ly, employees manually counted each panino when placing them on large baking trays, which led to human errors and increased the production process time. Secondly, when displayed on store shelves, the products were placed upright, causing the panini to slide towards the bottom of the packaging and appear less plump. Lastly, the customer wanted to add a feature that was not feasible for the original product, namely microwave heating, including after being taken out of the freezer and placed in the microwave.

    Two concepts were presented to the customer: The first was a simple replacement of the current tray used by the customer, which was a single-cavity PET tray that matched the opening of the current form-fill-seal machine. The second concept proposed by Tray-Pak was a redesigned solution featuring a multi-cavity polypropylene ribbed bottom tray. The ribbed bottom increased the tray's strength, allowing for thinner material usage, and also provided individual cavities for each panino. With this feature, there was no longer a need to count the panini as the number placed could be clearly known from the cavities, ultimately reducing production time. Additionally, the independent cavities/ribs kept the products in place when displayed upright, improving the product appearance and enhancing shelf appeal. Switching the tray material to polypropylene enabled microwave heating. 

      Result

   Tray-Pak has put forward an idea that not only meets customers' expectations for improving operational efficiency, but also exceeds expectations in terms of the impact on shelf appeal and retail sales volume through redesign. Within five minutes of testing the new tray in the production environment, the accuracy of the number of paninis loaded onto the tray was higher, and the phenomenon of seal failure and labor demand were both improved.