When a leading canned vegetable processor replaced more than 20 manually loaded and unloaded vertical retorts with seven eight-basket Allpax jumbo retorts and a fully automated loading and unloading system, the new automated batch retort system (ABRS) increased the cannery’s productivity by more than 25 percent over the previous year’s production. The ABRS runs at speeds of more than 500 cans per minute depending on can size. One operator, situated at a state-of-the-art control station, oversees the entire retort room.  

This canning operation runs only a few months out of the year following the fall vegetable harvest. The new system had to be installed and ready to run flawlessly 24 hours per day and seven days per week from the start of a harvest season, with high-efficiency expectations to maximize the yield of the harvest. The engineering, manufacturing, installation and training timeframe for the new retort room was extremely tight and mission critical. In the end, these hurdles were overcome with flying colors.