Solution By Industry
Something to Bark About - Viking helps premium pet foods manufacturer grow its business
Tony Holbrook, Production/Safety Manager for Diamond Pet Foods of Gaston, South Carolina, has much to say about the performance, ease of operation and service provided by Leonhard Packaging Solutions and its Viking™ M250 bagger.
One of the nation's leading manufacturers of super-premium dog and cat foods, Diamond was looking for a VF/F/S bagger that could help the company grow its customer base, which includes top breeders, kennel owners, sporting enthusiasts, and family pet owners worldwide. It bagged efficiency and value with Viking.
"Our maintenance team was able to position the (Viking M250) bagger easily onto our production floor," notes Holbrook of the machine's simple installation. "After installation, Tim Parrish (with Viking) came into our plant to provide hands-on training with our packing and maintenance team. Tim did an outstanding job at demonstrating how to run the M250 efficiently and how to correct problems if they arise. My packing crew is currently running very well since training with Tim."
A rugged powerhouse, the Viking M250 offers the flexibility of open modular design at an affordable price. Its fast-action stepper jaw boasts 90 bags per minute with bag lengths up to 23.5 inches in a single stroke. Better yet, the Viking M250 offers flexibility of a host of bag styles including pillow, gusseted, 3- and 4-side seal, quad-seal, Doy, pack, brik with head folded over, standup with carrying handle and tetrahedron.
"Most VF/F/S manufacturers have not yet accomplished bag styles such as quad-seal and Doy pack," notes Viking Vice President Robb Leonhard. "But we combine our engineering expertise and alliances to form these unique bag styles on our Viking line of machines."
The takeaway for Diamond Pet Foods? A machine that is flexible, functional and economical to support Diamond's expansion efforts of its customer base by providing in-demand sample bags of its premium pet food products.
"The M250 is a simple bagger to run and it is reliable," adds Diamond's Tony Holbrook, expressing thanks for all the training and support offered in conjunction with machine purchase - which is Viking standard practice. "I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in a form fill and seal bagger that doesn't have much time to train. It is a great machine which is easily set up to run."