Deep in the alleys of the old city of Dubai, a date workshop that has been passed down for three generations is quietly transforming. Faced with increasingly stringent hygiene certifications and doubling orders from European and American importers, Ply-pack's customized "semi-automatic flexible packaging unit" successfully solved the compatibility problem between traditional craftsmanship and modern production. This case reveals the unique needs of small and medium-sized food companies in intelligent transformation - both retaining the handmade texture and achieving standardized upgrades.
When cultural heritage meets production bottlenecks
"Our coconut cake must retain the hand-kneaded texture, but the existing equipment will crush the surface nuts." In early 2023, the Ply-pack engineer received this video message through WhatsApp, exposing the typical pain points of traditional Middle Eastern food processing. Although the workshop has a stable overseas customer base, the pure manual packaging has caused the daily production capacity to be stuck at a bottleneck of 200 kilograms, and it is also facing the risk of excessive microorganisms due to frequent manual contact.
After a field investigation, the Ply-pack technical team found that the transformation resistance of traditional workshops did not come from backward technology, but from concerns about "mechanization = homogenization". To this end, we proposed the concept of "limited automation": CE-certified ultraviolet disinfection modules are configured in the core sterilization link, but the manual intervention window is retained in the product arrangement link. This design not only increases the packaging speed to 80 boxes per hour, but also allows each coconut cake to still carry the temperature of the craftsman's fingertips.
Modular design activates transformation flexibility
The customized food packaging machine delivered this time adopts a "growable" architecture. The basic unit only occupies an area of 5 square meters, but it has reserved 3 function expansion interfaces. At this stage, the customer only uses the weighing filling and sealing labeling modules. After the market channels are stable, the coding traceability or gift box packaging components can be installed at any time. This "segmented investment" model distributes the equipment investment cost to different development stages, which is particularly suitable for the cash flow characteristics of small and medium-sized food companies.
In response to the 50¡æ high temperature and dust environment in the Middle East, Ply-pack has carried out three localization transformations:
- The conveyor belt bearings are equipped with anti-sand coatings, which extend the maintenance cycle by 3 times compared with conventional equipment
- The operation interface supports Arabic voice commands to reduce employee training costs
- Removable cleaning components meet Islamic food production standards
Transnational smart manufacturing connected by WhatsApp
From the initial demand docking to the later debugging guidance, this collaboration across 8 time zones has always been efficiently promoted through WhatsApp. Our engineers once sent equipment parameter adjustment videos at 3 am, and customers used their mobile phones to shoot the production line for real-time feedback. This "fragmented instant communication" model allows customized services to break through the time and space limitations of traditional business processes, and the average response speed is 70% higher than that of email communication.
The implications of this project far exceed the supply of a single device:
- For small and medium-sized food companies: Prove that "small-scale customization" is also commercially viable
- For technology suppliers: Verify the link value of instant messaging tools in cross-border services
- For the Middle East market: Establish a demonstration sample for the upgrade of traditional food intelligent manufacturing
Flexible intelligent manufacturing empowers the rebirth of the industry
With the first batch of date gift boxes packaged by new equipment landing in high-end supermarkets in London, Ply-pack is replicating this solution to more scenarios. In the fig preserves factory in Oman, we solved the problem of preserved fruit sticking by adding a visual inspection module; in the Saudi spice mill, we developed a vacuum packaging unit made of corrosion-resistant materials.
"It is not about replacing labor with machines, but extending craftsmanship with intelligence." This is the core concept of Ply-pack's deep cultivation of the Middle East market. In the future, we will continue to optimize the "culturally sensitive intelligent manufacturing" solution, so that more food workshops with regional characteristics can find a balance between adhering to tradition and embracing innovation.
