When the largest privately owned dessert manufacturer in Canada reached capacity in its Delta, British Columbia plant, it looked east to Ontario, at the heart of the North American market.
Project Highlights
To facilitate the shipping of frozen decorated cakes, this 130,000 SF facility had a Variable Retention Time (VRT) freezer, the largest of its kind at the time, with 1000’ of conveyer in eight different cells at -10˚F.
Thanks to close coordination, the project was completed in 11 months from groundbreaking to saleable product, despite a winter with unusually high snow falls.
It received a gold rating from the American Institute of Baking (AIB) due to sanitary design practices that exceeded AIB and GMP standards, and production rates were higher than expected immediately upon start-up.
StockPot, a subsidiary of Campbell Soup Company, produced fresh-refrigerated soups, entrées, sauces, chilies, gravies, and side dishes. All products emphasized freshness and quality, using fresh-cut vegetables, genuine dairy products, fresh herbs and spices, and premium meats and seafood.
Project Highlights
Dennis Group provided complete design-build services for StockPot’s new greenfield facility project in Woodinville, WA, but their business had tripled in a short time, so Dennis Group was once again engaged when they required a second new facility on an 18-acre site.
The new soup manufacturing facility doubled the size of their production capacity, as well as implemented an expanded state-of-the-art clean-in-place (CIP) system to accommodate the made-to-order soup runs while improving production efficiency of StockPot’s unique cook, chill and packaging systems.
Dennis Group was brought in shortly after a catastrophic series of explosions destroyed much of Imperial Sugar’s refinery & packaging facilities. Following investigations conducted by OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), Dennis Group was released to begin management of site/facility demolition while simultaneously planning for the design-build reconstruction of the site and facilities with “world class” vision.
Project Highlights
11 months following project release and commencement of construction, key operations for Imperial Sugar were back on line.
Scope included 185,000 SF of new building construction plus 40,000 SF of damaged facility renovations and new production and packaging equipment.
300 tons/hour of sugar was distributed via dense phase systems (with dilute phase systems for powder & starch conveyance), three large storage silos constructed & fit up, truck and rail load out reconstructed with updated technologies, and eleven high volume packaging lines (granulated, brown and powder) all with the most current NFPA, OSHA and CSB recommendations, guidelines & requirements. Extensive wet and dry dust collection systems were incorporated into the design.
Maintaining schedule and cost while incorporating design innovations and working around existing site constraints were major challenges overcome during this fast-track project. Once key elements of production were on line construction of facilities and installation of process equipment were performed without interruption to ongoing operations. This required close coordination with plant personnel, 24 hour per day construction activities and managing over 600 contractors per day during peak installation & commissioning periods.
When global demand for Ocean Spray dried cranberries doubled within three years and was projected to double once again, the company made its largest capital investment in a manufacturing facility to date with a 130,000 SF expansion that doubled the plant’s size to 440,000 SF. The plant produces both sweetened dried cranberries and cranberry juice concentrates.
Project Highlights
The facility incorporated some of the latest technologies in energy and environmental efficiency, including a wastewater treatment facility, energy-efficient lighting, and an expansion of a system that converts methane from the Veolia Cranberry Creek Landfill into clean energy to power the plant.
A new fully-racked warehouse for both ingredients and finished goods increased storage capacity. The expansion enabled the plant to produce more than 30 million pounds of sweetened dried cranberries per year.
Major accomplishments of the project included design and implementation of 5S standards in creating state-of-the-art maintenance shop and quality control lab spaces.
Sheetz Brothers wanted to develop a new commissary facility including a bakery and ready-to-eat area to produce products that would be delivered fresh daily to the company’s 350 locations across six states.
Project Highlights
Dennis Group provided complete turn-key site development, facility, process design and construction management design-build services for Sheetz Brothers’ Kitchen new commissary facility in Claysburg, Pennsylvania. The project involved the construction of a new 140,000 SF commissary facility in conjunction with a 28,000 SF expansion to the existing Sheetz Distribution Center, as well as, other campus improvements.
Major accomplishments of the project included complete facility construction, process installation and commissioning in less than 12 months. This successful project was completed on schedule and exceeded expectation in many areas of design and performance. The facility has also been designed for future expansion to both the bakery and “ready-to-eat” areas.
Daisy Brand is the premier manufacturer of sour cream in the United States, producing a fresh product without preservatives which is consistently voted the “best in class”. Demand for the company’s products has outstripped the capacity of their sole facility in Garland, Texas and a decision was made to construct a second manufacturing plant.
Project Highlights
Casa Grande, Arizona was chosen as the site of the new facility, owing to its proximity to several major dairy farms, as well as increased and for the company’s products in the southwestern U.S.
The new facility was constructed on a 36 acre site, formerly used to grow cotton. The building encompasses 200,000 SF (150,000 SF footprint). Provisions were made for a future addition of 20,000 SF for production of the company’s newest product, cottage cheese.
Folgers consolidated their coffee operations from Kansas City, KS and Sherman, TX to New Orleans, LA to defray shipping costs.
Project Highlights
This project was a consolidation and included the relocation and installation of 12 coffee roasters, 4 packaging lines and blending and grinding equipment from their Kansas City facility as well as coffee silos from a facility in Sherman, TX.
Areas of the existing facility were renovated to create a new plant entrance, amenities and better GMP controlled access to the operation.
An existing section of the facility was removed and a 140 foot tall 50,000 square foot processing tower was constructed.
This project included the addition of utility infrastructure (aspiration, compressed air, tower water, chilled water, and fire quenching systems), as well as a separate flavor storage building with automated delivery and cleaning systems to support the production lines.
Construction and installation was executed without impact to the plant’s existing operation, and the shutdown, relocation and startup of assets from the Kansas City facility was completed without impact to the supply of product to customers.
The J.M. Smucker Company converted a former jams and jellies facility into a processing space for peanut butter.
Project Highlights
Dennis Group provided full design-build services for the project, which included building a complete renovation of the existing warehouse in addition to a large expansion to support a robust production line.
A highly integrated vertical operation in excess of 100’ in height was constructed with a focus on gentle handling.
A new rail infrastructure was added to receive shipments of peanuts and included an “in motion” scale for raw material tracking.
Raw versus roast (HACCP) zoning was established to separate the high care and low care peanut processing spaces.
The facility currently produces JIF Creamy, JIF Crunchy and JIF Natural products on this high speed production line.
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