Automating the process of building strawberry boxes

Four men wearing medical masks are looking and discussing CAD design software on a large monitor. One man in a plaid shirt is gesturing towards the screen.

Summary

Completed an analysis of the current process to build strawberry boxes. With this information, Engineered Technologies Applied Research (ETAR) designed automatic mechanisms to replace manually stapling the boxes together. ETAR is currently building the first prototype of the automated design.

Challenge

Willow Box is currently declining orders due to its limited production capacity. They would like to improve the efficiency of building the boxes they sell their strawberries in with the goal of fulfilling the growing demand on their product while reducing the dependence on manual labour to increase production. ETAR was tasked with designing the automatic process and building the first prototype.

Outcomes

“After researching what’s available on the market, we designed an efficient, cost-effective automated process to meet Willow Box’s requirements. We’re in the process of building a prototype. Once built, this design will eliminate the tedious process of stapling strawberry boxes by hand and is expected to increase production by at least 25 per cent after installing one system.”

-Dr. Etienne Mfoumou, NSCC Research Scientist

Partners

Willow Box