Gleaners Food Bank Indianapolis Back Sack Assembly Line

Project Overview

Gleaners Food Bank, a non-profit organization serving 21 counties in Central and Southeastern Indiana through a network of 350 hunger relief partners, sought to dramatically expand its critical Back Sack program. This program addresses child hunger by providing elementary school children in low-income areas with a sack of nutritious, kid-friendly food to take home each Friday, ensuring they have meals over the weekend when school lunches are unavailable.

The program, which had been operating for about five years primarily within Marion County, was manually assembling 3,000 sacks per week using a simple skate conveyor and milk crates. To meet the goal of expanding the program's reach to 10,000 children weekly and extending its geographic coverage, Gleaners needed a significantly more efficient and higher-capacity assembly process. They turned to Bastian Solutions and its sister company, BlueArc Engineering, to automate and optimize the Back Sack assembly line.

Technical Solution

Custom Circular Assembly Conveyor System

Bastian Solutions designed and installed a custom, semi-automated conveyor system specifically for assembling the Back Sacks. The core of the solution is a circular conveyor line that utilizes a plastic chain with several UHMW (Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene) pallets. These pallets feature lobes that ride on the chain, creating a minimum-pressure style conveyor.

Key Features

The system's circular layout and continuous flow are optimized for high-volume, repetitive assembly tasks, enabling the weekly target of 10,000 sacks. The minimum-pressure conveyor technology provides operational flexibility, accommodating variable volunteer pacing without sacrificing overall line throughput.

The entire solution was developed through a highly collaborative design process. Bastian engineers visited the site to understand the unique workflow and needs, then iterated on concepts with Gleaners, incorporating feedback to create a tailored solution that met both technical and humanitarian objectives.

Results & Benefits

The implementation was a resounding success for the Back Sack program. Capacity increased by over 230%, allowing Gleaners to expand from serving 3,000 children to 10,000 children every single week. This growth also facilitated a geographic expansion of the program beyond its original Marion County focus.

The new line provided the reliable, scalable capacity needed to confidently promise 10,000 weekly sacks. For the volunteers, the ergonomic improvements—standing at a fixed station as work comes to them—made the assembly process less physically demanding compared to the previous manual method, improving the volunteer experience.

Challenges & Solutions

The primary challenge was the severe capacity limitation of the entirely manual, skate-conveyor-based assembly process, which capped the program's impact. The solution was to introduce a semi-automated material handling system. Bastian Solutions' custom circular conveyor transformed the workflow from a batch-oriented, manual-crate process to a continuous-flow assembly line where volunteers could work efficiently at dedicated stations, dramatically increasing the speed and volume of sack production.

System Integrator

Bastian Solutions, in collaboration with its sister company BlueArc Engineering, served as the system integrator for this project. They engaged in a close partnership with Gleaners, beginning with an on-site assessment of needs, followed by conceptual design, iterative feedback, and final installation of the custom conveyor assembly line. Their collaborative approach ensured the final system perfectly matched the operational requirements and volunteer-driven nature of the food bank's critical mission.