Raw Material Receiving and Storage

An exploding market for meal kits demanded an upgrade to Blue Apron’s southwest operation. Food Plant Engineering built-out the first 50,000 square feet of the original operation and was asked to look at expanding it once again. The plant was originally conceived to produce meal kits with primarily manual means, but market demand grew to a point that only additional space and automation could address.

This project required not only a creative design mindset, but a thorough understanding of a unique operation that combines manufacturing with traditional ecommerce within the same building and business. FPE project managers were given a rough concept layout from Blue Apron’s startup team. We were able to improve upon the concept to create additional space for incoming materials, reduce travel distance for the product flow, improve the hygienic environment to produce the meal portions, and reduce the space needed for employee amenities.  

Producing meal kits that contain ingredients that differ from week to week creates the need for adaptable storage. Our firm was able to work with Blue Apron’s plant management to devise a flexible storage and space plan to accommodate their needs. Containers, packages and pallets of all shapes and sizes needed to be stored. In addition to the large number of SKUs, Blue Apron’s raw materials have very high turns as these are typically not stored for more than a week. Temperature needs within this area range wildly as well, so flexibility is also necessary regarding freezers, coolers and temperature/humidity controlled dry ingredient storage.

Growth & Flexibility

In addition to a flexible storage plan, the production environment needed extreme flexibility to produce the large variety of SKUs needed. Though automation is typically well-suited for mass producing the same type of products in large quantities, our firm was able to help devise a strategy to implement targeted work cell automation. This allows for flexibility in production while reducing the workforce requirements.  

Processing Environment

This facility’s hygienic environment is critical, as a variety of food types are portioned from bulk ingredients into individual packages for assembly in mail order cases. Our design team determined that the operation should be separated into two basic room types, depending on the type of products being produced and packaged. One room type is a cooled low-humidity dry room, and the other is a refrigerated wet wash-down room. The vegetable processing operation required a cold and wet environment; the grains and spices needed a dry and cool environment, and the oils and liquids required a cool wash down environment. Our firm was able to position these different types of spaces into a layout that created a productive and hygienic work environment. In addition, many bins are utilized in the operation for the transporting of work-in-process. A plan for installing an automatic wash system was devised by our firm and added into the operations workflow to keep a circulation of clean bins available for use.  

Significant collaboration between Blue Apron’s team and our firm’s designers was necessary to achieve the correct balance in processing areas. Our team learned the process flow of this operation, was willing to consider space tradeoffs, and designed in tight spaces. We were engaged in the entire process from start to finish. 

Packaging, Cold Storage and Shipping

The facility needed a way to increase the rate at which meal kits are packaged into shipping cartons. The original system involved mostly manual assembly line style packing and sorting. In order to automate this operation, our firm worked with a vendor that provided an automated pick-to-light style system and automatic sorting and slotting for the finished cartons. This system was installed while maintaining ongoing packing and shipping operations.

Flexibility for Growth

Creating and launching a new product in the food industry is an enormous undertaking. Once the product has been formulated and produced in a pilot plant, the process and production must be scaled up to meet the growing demands of consumers. Gathered Foods needed Food Plant Engineering’s food processing design and construction expertise to incorporate their proprietary vegan tuna process into their first large-scale, hygienic operation. Our team knew how to visualize the facility from start to finish and designed each space—from production to packaging—based upon not only the company’s current needs but on their anticipated growth. This project required a great deal of collaboration, as Gathered Foods looked to us for help sourcing equipment and meeting regulatory standards. We strived to maintain the unique integrity of their process and meet their overall needs.

To accommodate a growing business and a rapidly changing market, FPE allocated space in the facility design to allow for quadrupling the capacity of Gathered Food’s proprietary process and supporting processes, including freezing, mixing, forming, and packaging. The space was allocated to allow for the installation of additional processing equipment without expanding the footprint of the building. The layout can be adapted different production methods as new markets for vegan products arise. Opportunities for further building expansion were also considered when the existing space becomes fully utilized.

Food Processing and Packaging

While the core process for manufacturing Gathered Foods’ products is proprietary, Food Plant Engineering was responsible for integrating into the design the supporting food processing steps necessary to transform the initial product into its final form. After the propriety process—during which dry ingredients are transformed into the moist base product that replicates real tuna flakes—the flakes are processed using traditional food production methods to manufacture various products, including patties. Equipment used to produce the final products includes paddle mixers, vacuum fillers, plate formers, spiral freezers, and tunnel freezers. Patties are packaged in either a vertical form, fill, and seal machine or a horizontal form, fill, and seal machine. The secondary packaging includes carton and case formers and sealers. Metal detectors and checkweighers are used throughout the different stages of the process for food safety purposes. 

Facility Development

When developing a facility design, it is important to plan for the location of mechanical rooms, shipping/receiving docks, and utility entrances. These areas are difficult (if not impossible) to move if the building needs an expansion in the future. The location of these areas must be coordinated with other process support areas such as locker and break rooms, offices, chemical storage, and lab spaces. All areas must then connect with each other and the processing functions to allow for the flow of personnel, equipment, and trash in the facility. Often the solution for accomplishing this is to develop well-placed corridors for connecting the spaces. This project utilized a central corridor to separate hygienic zones, provide access to docks and mechanical areas, allow for the move-in of future equipment, and provide a connection for a future building addition. Knockout panels were added to the corridor for future freezers. Numerous gowning areas were placed along the corridor for employees to wash hands and put on PPE before entering more hygienic zones.

Flexible Lab Facilities

Research and development (R&D) and quality assurance (QA) labs were incorporated into the facility. The R&D lab was built as a multi-use space for product development, incorporating areas for food preparation, cooking, baking, and packaging operations. The QA lab was planned to allow for basic operations for sample retention and analysis. Using similar materials as the process areas, FPE constructed both spaces to comply with food safety standards. Added storage and open counterspace allow for flexibility as the business explores new products and continues to grow.

Project Management

Food Plant Engineering provided Project Management support for both the design and construction of the Gathered Foods facility. During the design phase, a Project Manager worked closely with the architectural and engineering teams to monitor the schedule. Weekly meetings with the owner were held to discuss the company’s needs, desires, and the requirements for the final design of the facility. Once the design was complete, the Construction Manager worked on-site directing the construction process and communicating with stakeholders regarding the budget and expenditures for construction.  

Phased Approach to Project Implementation

More Than Gourmet first came to FPE to help determine the operational growth opportunity in their current facility. After a series of evaluations on their kettle operations, it was concluded that the system was at capacity, and only minor to moderate changes could be made to increase the throughput in its current state. With larger goals in mind, More Than Gourmet requested our help in doubling production capacity in their limited space. While maintaining production, the company needed to install new high-pressure kettles, extraction vessels, and concentration vessels. Along with these tasks, More Than Gourmet needed to relocate pasteurizing, filling and packaging operations in the current space and construct a facility addition for additional packaging, laboratory, and storage space.

Thus, the challenge of this project was developing a phased approach to minimize disruption to current operations. Complete understanding of the operation was necessary as we collaborated with More Than Gourmet’s team to time everything from the installation of equipment to construction milestones.   

The first challenge our team faced was the location for a new building addition. Due to site and property restrictions, the only option available was to attach the addition in the location of the current shipping and receiving docks. Since it was impossible for More Than Gourmet to operate without shipping and receiving for any length of time, our team developed a solution for installing a temporary dock for use during construction activities.  

The second challenge involved plant utility systems. After performing an evaluation of the natural gas, steam, water heating, and electrical systems, it was determined that upgrades were required for some of the utility infrastructure. The steam system required the installation of a new boiler to provide additional capacity necessitated by the installation of the new pressure kettles.  

Food Plant Engineering had to carefully plan and engineer the installation of the boiler to fit into the very limited space available in the existing mechanical room. Water heating also needed to be upgraded, so a larger, skid-mounted hot water system was installed to provide for the increased CIP and production needs. The electrical distribution system needed to be enhanced as well.  In order to implement these improvements, a series of well-planned, short plant shutdowns were implemented during which necessary tie-ins to the existing infrastructure were completed.

Food Processing System Design

More Than Gourmet specializes in making bone broth, a process that requires intricate piping and specialized process equipment. Our team studied the process, reviewed the existing P&ID drawings, and determined what changes were necessary in order to accomplish their goal of doubling production capacity. This solution involved installing a second custom kettle system alongside the existing kettles. Process improvements were also needed with the existing kettle operation to integrate the two systems and allow them to function as a combined system or as two separate systems. This approach allowed for a production operation that is flexible in terms of capacity and variations in production schedules.

The existing pasteurizing operation was not ideally located for good manufacturing practices.  Prior to aseptic packaging, the product passes through an ultra-high temperature (UHT) heat exchanger. Our firm devised a plan to improve food safety by relocating the pasteurization and packaging operation to a hygienic area created in the new building addition. Also, the bag-in-box and bulk filled containers did not have on-site storage available for the finished products. FPE was able to ingrate storage into the new addition to permit More Than Gourmet to hold more product on-site in a finished goods freezer. This also allowed for the bulk package products to remain on-site to supplement the supply of products for retail cup filling operations.   

In addition to developing plans for increasing capacity, other studies were performed to understand potential operational efficiency losses. These studies were performed to find solutions to improve processing efficiency and thus prioritize capital spending. The basic production process at More Than Gourmet involves extracting nutrients from animal by-products using temperature and pressure. The protein and nutrients are released into a broth; the broth is then concentrated, stored in holding tanks, and aseptically packaged into containers. The packaging operation that involves both retail packaging as well as institutional bulk packaging was studied. The cup and bottling filling lines were not performing as originally intended and solutions were devised to increase the uptime and efficiency of the operation.

Project Management

Food Plant Engineering provided Project Management support for all aspects of this project. During the design phase, the Project Manager worked closely with the architecture and engineering team to coordinate schedules. Weekly meetings between the Project Manager and the client during this time were used to explain how More Than Gourmet’s needs and wants affected the final design of the facility.  Once the design was complete, the Project Manager worked on-site to coordinate shutdown activities and to oversee the kettle system installation during the renovation. Additionally, the Construction Manager worked on-site to keep the new building construction on schedule and coordinate cash flow. 

Project Overview

One of the largest global food ingredient companies approached FPE to assist with increasing production at their Erlanger, Kentucky facility while daily operations continued. This project focused on two key areas in the facility: FPE was first tasked with the renovation of an existing production space designed for the staling, drying, and packaging of bread, stuffing, and seasoned croutons. After the completion of this work, our firm was then employed to design and build the space and infrastructure for a new bread crumb production line.

The initial renovation involved improving the facility infrastructure to support upgraded equipment, such as floor-mounted and ceiling-supported bread conveyors, loaders/unloaders, stackers/unstackers, dolly loaders/unloaders, bread slicers/dicers, bucket elevators, conveyor dryers, hoppers, and belt conveyors. An additional 8,000 sq. ft. room was designed for the drying oven and packaging equipment.  

The following expansion for a new bread crumb production line involved the design and construction of a 16,000 sq. ft. section of the facility to accommodate the following equipment: a mixer, sifter, overhead conveyors, an oven, proofer, pressure washer, two CW pumps, a hot water heater, and a boiler.

Throughout both parts of the project, FPE thoroughly reviewed options for air flow, zoning, and equipment, given the high-allergen environment and heavy potential for dust collection. A substantial review of the facility’s electrical demand was performed, and an additional transformer was installed to help fulfill the increased power requirements for both projects.

All project planning and design for the project were implemented by FPE.