When parents are teaching their children how to handle breakable objects, they often remind them to use extra care and handle it gently with two hands. The case packers segment of a beverage line also is learning to handle newer, more breakable packages with care in order to ensure that lightweight and flexible packages are gently packed and shipped to stores in one piece.
For example, when Kansas City, Mo.-based Boulevard Brewing Co., now a part of Puurs, Belgium-based Duvel Moortgat, wanted to add a high-speed packaging line to its expanded facility in 2008 in order to keep up with production demand, it found that it needed a new solution to handle lightweight bottles, according to the case study “Packaging Line Improvements Keep Craft Brewer Focused on the Future,” by Standard-Knapp Inc., Portland, Conn. The industry trend of lightweighting, which was prevalent even back then, created lightweight glass bottles that save money and materials but are weaker and less able to stand up to rugged drop-packing, Boulevard Brewing Director of Engineering Mike Utz explained in the case study.