Here are several things you should consider when planning a production line for your product:

Sizing your new canning machine

Output

• How much of your product would you anticipate canning in a single run?
• What output on any canning day would you anticipate say in a year’s time, 2 year’s time – when demand for your product could be higher (read: much higher). Your business plan and sales figures will tell you what this number could be.
• This will help us to determine what speed of machine you will need to make the most out of your canning runs.

Automation

• You will always need a few staff members to assist when running a canning line, no matter how large or small the line is. How much automation can you afford? Can you afford NOT to automate?
• Automation means you switch it on, and it works until you switch it off, delivering a reliable, uninterrupted, continuous production – eliminating any downtime that can be associated with physical labour.
• Automation needs real estate. There are ways to configure the layout of a production line, but there are items that you cannot twist or turn to get them into a tight space!
• You can start with a little automation and grow it as your revenue increases, but you will need to anticipate the space that new equipment could take up, so that when you decide to upgrade, you’re ready for the new equipment. 

Waste

There will always be a little wastage in any production process, but you can reduce that waste by investing in a machine that:

• You can “set and forget”. Constantly tweaking and adjusting a machine during a canning run not only slows down production, it can also lead to your product warming up just enough to cause foaming which could lead to low fills and wasted product running down the drain – along with your potential revenue. 
• Provides consistent seams on the cans. Apart from product leakage, this could also lead to dissolved oxygen pickup in products where DO is important: shorter shelf life, resultant brand damage, the list goes on. Something most folks don’t take into account: consider a few low-filled or improperly seamed cans sitting on a pallet at the bottom of a stack of pallets with canned products on them. If one or more of these cans collapses, the whole stack could topple over, destroying lots of product and potentially injuring an employee – creating a WHS event. 
• Works smart. By that I mean having the ability to diagnose problems as they occur and communicate the problems the canning machine operator.

Expansion

• Some canning machines can be expanded to produce a greater output when demand for your product exceeds your current capacity to meet that demand. This is where careful planning comes in, to cater for your future canning needs. If your output needs are sufficient to start with, it may be better to future-proof your investment by purchasing a slightly larger canning machine than you first intended.

Other things to consider:

Footprint

Your canning operation will also need real estate for other items such as 

• Pallets of empty cans and that are ready to fill
• Sleeves of lids, carry handles, flat-pack cartons, tape
• Empty pallet/s for the cartons of filled cans to be loaded on
• A forklift or pallet jack to move the pallets into place for the infeed and to move pallets of filled product to a truck or staging area for loading

Finance

• If you are still not sure whether to invest in a canning line because of your financial position, cash flow, etc., there are equipment finance options that could work out quite nicely for you. Building a finance option into your business projections could help you get the gear now, take control of your canning operation, and pay it off as your business grows. 
• An idea that works well for some businesses is to make use of your canning line more of the time, instead of letting it lie idle while you’re not canning your own product. Offer contract canning services to other businesses in your local area. They may not have the same product as you produce, but with some planning, this could be a lucrative option to help pay off your investment and earn some extra cash in the process.