To keep pace with rapidly growing demand, Just Born, the maker of MIKE AND IKE® candies, needed a packaging solution that could dramatically increase throughput while maintaining product quality and fitting within its existing production footprint.
The Background: Revitalizing a Legacy Candy Product for Modern Demand
MIKE AND IKE® candies, produced by Just Born, are a long-standing staple in movie theaters and retail checkout lanes. Known for their signature theater box cartons, the brand experienced renewed attention following a highly successful social media campaign aimed at younger consumers.
That surge in visibility quickly translated into increased demand across both traditional 5 oz cartons and smaller “changemaker” boxes—placing new pressure on production and packaging operations to keep up.
The Challenge: Scaling Candy Packaging to 600 Cartons Per Minute Without Expanding Footprint
As demand accelerated, existing packaging processes were no longer sufficient to support required throughput. The team needed to:
- Match upstream cartoning speeds reaching up to 600 cartons per minute
- Introduce new retail-ready packaging formats for smaller cartons
- Eliminate inefficiencies from piecemeal, disconnected equipment
- Maintain strict space constraints within the existing plant layout
Beyond speed, the real challenge was integration. Traditional approaches would require multiple machines, added conveyors, and buffer zones—driving up complexity, floor space, and operational risk.
The Solution: Integrated Cartoning, Case Packing, & Palletizing in One System
Aagard delivered a fully integrated, compact system designed to handle the entire secondary packaging and end-of-line process within a single machine platform.
Built as part of a “Changemaker Theater Box System,” the solution combines cartoning, case packing, and palletizing into one continuous operation—eliminating the need for multiple standalone machines and the conveyors typically required to connect them.
Within that single system, individual cartons move through a coordinated sequence of operations:
- Collating individual cartons at high speed
- Loading 24-count retail-ready display cartons
- Packing display cartons into corrugated shipping cases
- Palletizing finished cases without accumulation
To support this flow, the system incorporates the full range of handling and packaging functions typically spread across multiple machines, including:
- Carton infeed, setup, loading, and sealing
- Inspection features such as open flap detection and reject handling
- Carton collation and buffering
- Case forming, loading, sealing, and tipping
- Integrated printing across cartoning and case packing cells
All functions are synchronized through a single control platform, allowing communication, safety zones, and machine coordination to operate as one system rather than separate pieces of equipment.
The system is designed to match upstream speeds, handling up to 600+ cartons per minute while forming and loading retail-ready packaging formats required for high-volume products like “changemaker” cartons. At the end of the line, a compact, low-level robotic palletizer with dual-station semi-automatic operation is integrated directly into the system—maintaining flow without increasing the overall footprint.
The Results: High-Speed Candy Packaging Output, Reduced Complexity, and Space Savings
By consolidating multiple packaging stages into a single integrated system, Aagard helped Just Born achieve:
- Throughput alignment with upstream production at 600+ pocket change cartons per minute (individual cartons)
- Retail-ready display cartons formed and packed at 30 cartons per minute (24-count display cartons)
- Finished cases produced at a steady rate of 3 cases per minute (16 display cartons per case)
- Reduced floor space usage by eliminating buffer zones and excess conveyance
- Simplified operations through a single, coordinated control system
- Streamlined end-of-line performance from cartoning through palletizing
As one team member noted, producing small, low-cost cartons profitably requires extremely high volume—and a system capable of handling that speed without added complexity.
This solution made that possible while keeping the entire operation compact, coordinated, and scalable.
