In 1978 Wholegrain Milling Co. began with a bench-mounted stone mill on a kitchen table in Gunnedah, New South Wales. It has grown to become one of Australia’s largest and most trusted sources of wholesome, responsibly-grown flours.
Supplying to thousands of Australia’s most respected artisan bakeries and wholesalers requires a highly effective and efficient packaging process – and one that will scale to cater for international demand.
“New ideas born of old proven ways” is the thinking that underpins Wholegrain’s way of doing things, so little has changed about their product since 1978. What has changed is the burgeoning demand for their chemical-free stone-milled Australian flour.
Today the company offers a certified organic and sustainable range of flours made from Australian-grown grains using both stone-ground and roller milling techniques. Interest in their wholesome, high-quality products continues to expand from international customers as well as within Australia.
From sourcing to milling to delivery, Wholegrain Milling Co. is committed to providing a wholesome, high-quality product. Controlling and maintaining quality every step of the way is essential for guaranteeing flours that make the grade. Packaging the flour for transportation, therefore, is a step that needed careful attention as the company planned for growth.
To keep pace with demand and an uplift in production, new, fully automated packing machinery was commissioned. Planning and design took the best part of three years, but the investment paid off. With superior system efficiencies, the team could increase output without compromising quality.
The new machinery required the flour bags to be re-designed, so Smart Pack was called in to help.
“Since moving on to the Smart Pack bags, we have been able to increase production in the new machines by upwards of 25%.”
Wholegrain Milling Co. had spent considerable time and energy ensuring the new machine was ideal for the task. Smart Pack’s brief was to design a bag that could further optimise the system.
Smart Pack’s technical experts spent time on site to see the system in action and talked to the operational team to better understand their needs. Their careful investigation uncovered several issues, which meant that Wholegrain Milling wasn’t getting the best out of the new machine.
Using a practical outlook and technical knowledge, the Smart Pack team assessed the issues and outlined a plan to resolve them, including the projected cost and the added value of the improvements.
“We made it our business to understand the business, the requirements and the root cause of the issues,” says Smart Pack Managing Director Leon Currie.
“There were several issues. So, after understanding the root cause of these, we came up with a plan for how they could be fixed and articulated these clearly to Wholegrain. This was only possible due to our team’s deep technical knowledge and intimate understanding of bag manufacturing.”
Once everyone was in agreement with the proposed solution, the Smart Pack team got to work designing flour bags for the new machinery.
One issue was the glue used on the existing bags. The incorrect type of glue – and too much of it – was causing the old bags to stick together. This had a knock-on effect, creating issues that would have had a significant impact on the efficiency of their packaging processes, and on the bottom line.
Smart Pack worked to resolve this, removing the risk of excess glue residue and designing a bag that could be made in large volumes consistently and at the correct specifications for the machine. When looking for measurable efficiency gains, consistency is key, particularly for fully automated machines.
Another problem was the graphic design. The graphics placement on the old bags, when used in the new machine, resulted in the bags appearing to be upside down when stacked on pallets. Smart Pack’s graphic designer, Blake Currie, redesigned new-look graphics that read correctly once stacked.
“Smart Pack came in and provided a bag that’s consistent and has helped with the machine’s efficiencies,”
Leon Currie and the Smart Pack team spent a considerable amount of time upfront uncovering the issues and fine-tuning solutions. This meant that new flour bags could then be designed and created with confidence. Very few tweaks were needed to perfect the final bag design, and Smart Pack was proud to deliver on its commitment.
The results stacked up impressively for Wholegrain Milling Co.:
“Since moving on to the Smart Pack bags, we have been able to increase production in the new machines by upwards of 25%. A lot of that has come down to the consistency of the Smart Pack bags, which we weren’t getting before.”
Increasing production by more than 25% is an incredible result for the team, particularly as they increase production and transportation across Australia and the world.
Hugo Cox (account manager) now works closely with the Wholegrain Milling Co. team, working on inventory and inventory forecasting management as well as coordinating new bag variants.
