From Lagging to Leading: Feed Plant Modernization

In today’s world of industrial animal feed production, outdated packaging equipment can quietly become a major bottleneck. Many of today’s feed mills struggle to keep up with today’s demands for higher output, tighter quality control, and greater operational agility.

And for plant managers, the pressure is mounting. From labor shortages to rising maintenance costs and inconsistent palletizing performance, many of your plant’s daily challenges might stem from aging bag filling and palletizing systems. Whether you're overseeing high-capacity bulk production or managing a balanced mix of bagged and bulk feed, modernizing your equipment is no longer optional ­– it’s essential.

In this post, we’ll explain what feed plant modernization is and why it matters, walk you through how to identify signs of obsolescence in your facility, and offer four practical ways to upgrade your bag filling and palletizing systems.

Who We Are

BW Flexible Systems helps animal feed producers modernize their operations with flexible bag filling and palletizing solutions for moderate to high-volume and bulk feed production. Our automated Thiele bag filling and SYMACH palletizing solutions are known for their efficiency, versatility, precision, and ease of operability. We offer training, service and a lifetime of support for every solution sold.

What Does Modernization Look Like, and Why is it Necessary?

Feed plant modernization is the process of updating or replacing outdated feed handling systems with modern, automated solutions that improve efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. For many of today’s plant managers, especially those operating with legacy infrastructure, modernizing equipment is absolutely essential to ensuring your animal feed facility continues to meet and grow with customer demands.

Why? Because the challenges facing today’s feed mills are more complex than ever. Labor shortages make it difficult to staff manual operations. Customer expectations for speed and consistency are rising. And aging equipment often leads to costly errors, like damaged bags and pallets, which disrupt production and hurt profitability. Modernization helps plant managers overcome these issues by introducing equipment that’s easier to operate, more precise in performance, and built to scale with future growth.

5 Warning Signs Your Feed Handling Systems Are Outdated

The first step towards modernizing your feed plant is to recognize the warning signs that your current systems are no longer serving you. Here are five key indicators that it may be time to upgrade your bag filling and palletizing equipment:

1. Frequent Stacking Errors: If your palletizer regularly misplaces or damages bags, that’s a red flag. Inconsistent stacking not only leads to product loss but also disrupts downstream logistics and customer satisfaction.
2. Inability to Meet Production Demand: When your equipment can’t keep up with customer orders, it’s more than an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to growth. If your team is constantly working overtime or turning down business due to capacity limits, your systems are likely outdated.
3. Rising Maintenance Costs: Older equipment often requires more frequent repairs. If your maintenance budget is climbing and downtime is becoming routine, it may be more cost-effective to invest in new, reliable systems than to keep patching the old ones.
4. High Operator Turnover & Training Challenges: Modern equipment is designed with user-friendly interfaces that reduce training time and operator fatigue. If your team struggles to operate or maintain your current systems, or if you’re losing operators due to frustration and ergonomic stress, it’s time to consider an upgrade.
5. Lack of Flexibility for Future Growth: Legacy systems are often rigid and difficult to scale. If your equipment can’t adapt to new product lines, packaging formats, or automation goals, it’s holding your plant back from future opportunities. 

4 Ways to Modernize Your Animal Feed Production Plant

Once you’ve diagnosed the root cause of your challenges, the next step is knowing how to fix them. BW Flexible Systems offers a portfolio of modern, operator-friendly bagging and palletizing solutions designed specifically for the needs of animal feed producers – whether you’re running a high-capacity multinational operation or a growing regional facility. Here’s how our solutions can help you overcome the most common modernization challenges:

Prevent Stacking Errors with SYMACH Mach Series Palletizers

SYMACH Mach series palletizers have a long legacy of outputting the perfect pallet every time. Unlike traditional systems that rely on slide valves or grippers, which can damage packaging or stack inconsistently, Mach palletizers use a unique manipulator that handles each bag individually. Bags glide smoothly into the manipulator, are centered precisely, and are released exactly over the programmed position. This ensures accurate, stable stacking, even with overlapping patterns.

Expand Production Capacity with Thiele UltraStar Bagging Solutions

If your current bagging system struggles with inconsistent fill weights, frequent downtime, or slow throughput, Thiele UltraStar bag filling systems offer a powerful upgrade. Designed for mid to large-sized bags, the UltraStar delivers production speeds of up to 38 bags per minute, high-speed performance once reserved for small-bag systems to the world of animal feed packaging. With support for a wide range of bag sizes and materials – including paper, sustainable films, and traditional packaging – the UltraStar is built to adapt to your evolving needs.

Add Versatility and Control with Thiele OmniStar Bagging Solutions

For mid-sized feed producers seeking speed, flexibility, and precision, the Thiele OmniStar bag filling system is an attractive solution. Capable of filling up to 20 mid-to-large-sized bags per minute, the OmniStar brings high-speed performance and advanced automation to operations that demand both efficiency and adaptability. What sets the OmniStar apart is its ability to handle a wide range of bag types – including poly, polywoven, and paper – with servo-driven precision. And with automatic rejection of under- or overfilled bags, you can maintain consistent product quality without manual intervention.

Safeguard Performance with Operator Training and Lifetime Support

At BW Flexible Systems, our commitment to performance doesn’t end with the sale – it begins there. As part of the Barry-Wehmiller family, we believe in building lasting partnerships grounded in care, trust, and shared success. That’s why we offer comprehensive training and lifetime support to ensure your team is confident, capable, and empowered to get the most from your equipment.

Our operator and maintenance training programs are designed to help your team achieve optimal production speeds, reduce downtime, and improve your team’s experience with our solutions. Whether conducted on-site or at one of our fully equipped training centers throughout North America and the UK, each session blends hands-on instruction with expert guidance tailored to your specific equipment and production goals.

Learn More

Did you find this content useful? To discover more insights, tools, and solutions tailored for animal feed producers, visit our Animal Feed Packaging Solutions page.