How to break the packaging pain points of small and medium-sized coffee companies?
In a family-owned coffee workshop in central Chile, the third-generation operator Maria is facing transformation anxiety-the efficiency of manual packaging is difficult to meet the growth of online orders, and imported large-scale equipment has problems such as high capital investment and complex operation. This is a microcosm of small and medium-sized coffee companies around the world: small and medium-sized coffee companies have an urgent need for packaging upgrades, but are often trapped in the contradiction between "high customization costs" and "equipment mismatch".
Ply-Pack customized solution: adapt equipment to production, not production to equipment
For enterprises with a production capacity of 10-200kg/day, Ply-Pack launched the modular packaging equipment design concept. Taking the equipment recently delivered to Chilean customers as an example, we achieved precise adaptation through three technological innovations:
·Dynamic capacity adjustment: With an expandable silo, flexible output of 10-50kg/hour can be achieved by adding or removing module components, avoiding idle equipment losses in the off-season
·Intelligent weighing and packaging system: Integrated high-sensitivity sensors, the error rate is controlled within ±0.5g, and the coffee powder agglomeration is automatically identified and the vibration screening program is triggered
·Climate adaptability design: In view of the high humidity environment in the coastal areas of South America, a dual-channel nitrogen replacement device is built into the sealing module to ensure the stability of coffee flavor
“We originally thought that it would take at least half a year to customize the equipment, but the Ply-Pack team completed the process from drawing confirmation to prototype testing in just 45 days.” Maria said at the equipment commissioning ceremony, “The operating interface of this machine can even be switched to Spanish proverbs, which makes our front-line workers feel very familiar.”
From single equipment to ecological services: long-term value creation rooted in South America
Ply-Pack’s customized solutions for coffee packaging machines are more than just hardware delivery. During the project execution, we found that many South American customers faced derivative problems such as slow maintenance response and difficulty in obtaining spare parts. To this end, the company adopted two major strategies to strengthen localized technical support in South America:
. Pre-diagnosis IoT system: The remote monitoring module built into the equipment can warn of potential failures 48 hours in advance, and the technical team guides customers to complete 80% of routine maintenance through AR glasses
. Regional shared spare parts library: Joint spare parts centers were established in Chile and Peru, and the inventory coverage of common spare parts was increased to 95%, and the emergency response time was shortened to 24 hours
This "light investment, fast response" model enables small businesses to enjoy customized services at a lower cost. As Carlos, technical consultant of the Brazilian Coffee Association, commented: "Ply-Pack really understands the language of small and medium-sized enterprises-they use affordable solutions to solve the packaging loss problem that we used to think we had to endure."
Future layout: Let innovation return to user scenarios
The Ply-Pack R&D team recently went deep into the coffee growing areas of Colombia to record the farmers' full-process work habits from roasting to packaging. The results of this field survey have been transformed into two new product features:
· Equipment height is limited to 1.8 meters, adapting to the low-rise space of traditional family workshops
· Developing a handheld mini packaging terminal to meet the on-site customized souvenir needs of coffee farm tourism
“The evolution of packaging equipment should not be defined by the laboratory, but should be born in the customer’s workshop.” Ply-Pack South American Marketing Director emphasized, “We are building a dedicated database for companies with a production capacity of less than 500kg. In the future, customers only need to enter basic information such as plant area and average daily output to generate the optimal equipment configuration plan online.”
