High Efficiency Pie Line

A snack pie baker was replacing two aging pie lines with a single, new High efficiency pie line to maximize his line’s output. The old lines required multiple operators to manually rack off pies whenever there were difficulties ahead of packaging. However, the new line was designed with two legs of automated carton loading, which meant no operators would be available to give the immediate attention needed to rack off the pies during minor shut-downs.

Based on extensive experience with pie manufacturing, Graybill designed the High efficiency pie line with two accumulators, one for each packaging leg. These continuous, first-in, first-out accumulators automatically and instantaneously handle the short shut-downs that are typical of pie packaging without operator intervention. The units are stacked to conserve floor space, and each has up to 4 minutes of accumulation time. This eliminates the need for racking off on all but major shut-downs. Additional benefits are that the pies maintain their proper position and orientation and don’t get damaged by manual handling.