Field trip: Berry Plastics

http://www.berryplastics.com

INDD 508 Materials & Processes 

Field Trip Notes
Who is/ what is Berry Plastics?

• Berry Plastics was established in 1967 under the name Imperial Plastics. In 1972, the injection molding company entered the container market and was purchased by Jack Berry in 1983, hence the name Berry Plastics.

Products & Services: What do they do/ what do they make?

• Berry Plastics produces packing solutions for companies such as Walmart, Target, McDonalds, Burger King, Coco-Cola, Kraft Foods, General Mills, just to name a few. Berry Plastics manufactures and markets a number of plastic packaging products, including open top and closed top packaging, polyethylene-based plastic films, industrial and duct tapes, medical specialties, heat-shrinkable coatings, and specialty laminates.

Vocabulary Terms & Definitions (Materials):

• Berry Plastics primarily uses polythylene-based plastics for all of their products ranging from the packing line to their laminates and adhesives.

Forming Technologies:

•  Berry Plastics has a ton of forming technologies. They have injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, laminate extrusion, and sheet/film extrusion. Based on the tour, it seemed like they mostly used blow molding and extrusion processes to form a good portion of their products like the McDonalds' cups and lids.

Cutting Technologies:

• There didn't seem like there was a stand-alone cutting process on the assembly line. Much of the cutting technologies are integrated in the forming technologies like blow molding where at some point during the manufacturing process of a product, the pieces are cut in mass quantities. 

Joining Technologies:

• No real joining technologies as Berry Plastics mainly deals with products which are capable of being produced in such a way that doesn't require a joining process. They do however contain their very own tool shop full of people that are responsible for reducing manufacturing times, and costs, and increasing the efficiency of the processes as well as increasing the quality of their products. 

Finishing Technologies:

• On some occasions, Berry Plastics will apply calendering to cloths found in tapes and other adhesive products to produce a watered effect. They will also coat some of their plastics to enhance the glossiness, and to protect them from the environment, as well as increase their longevity.

Overall Impressions/ Epiphanes/ Aha Moments?

• Out of all of the field trips that we had that involved mass-producing, I would say that Berry Plastics had staff that were more technical and skilled compared the staff and employees from other companies. The environment was also surprisingly clean as well for how much was going within the factory.