Bray Solutions has invested in a dedicated Machine Room to handle high-volume contract packing at scale. Here is what it does, what equipment it houses, and what that means for clients. 

High-volume contract packing, the kind that involves tens of thousands or millions of individual product units rather than hundreds, requires more than space and willing operatives. It requires dedicated machinery, properly maintained and correctly configured for the specific tasks at hand, housed in an environment designed for efficient, uninterrupted operation at scale. 

As Bray Solutions’ contract packing department grew, it became clear that managing high-volume machinery within the same space as standard warehouse operations was creating inefficiencies for both. The Machine Room was built as the solution: a dedicated space within our facility, housed in a separate building, with the machinery, the workflow layout, and the operational environment specifically designed for high-volume contract packing activity. 

Key Takeaways 

• The Bray Solutions Machine Room is a dedicated contract packing facility housed in a separate building within our site, specifically designed to support high-volume rework and packing operations without competing with or disrupting standard warehouse fulfilment activity 

• The Machine Room houses dedicated machinery for the full range of high-volume contract packing services: automated bagging, banding, shrink wrapping, labelling, and batch coding, as well as facilities for Kimball tagging for fashion and retail clients 

• Separating the Machine Room from the main warehouse operation improves the working environment for both the contract packing team and the fulfilment team, and improves the quality of output from both 

• The scale of projects the Machine Room is designed to handle is demonstrated by the seeds and nuts relabelling project, which involved over 8 million individual product packs within a three-month window 

• Once contract packing work is complete in the Machine Room, finished goods move directly into Bray Solutions’ warehousing and storage system for ongoing ecommerce fulfilment or distribution via our 3PL shipping network 

• Clients with seasonal, project-based, or ongoing high-volume contract packing requirements can access Machine Room capacity as part of a broader 3PL services arrangement or as a standalone contract packing engagement 

Why a Dedicated Machine Room Changes What Contract Packing Can Deliver 

When automated bagging machines, banding equipment, shrink wrap lines, and labelling machinery are operating in a shared warehouse environment, they create noise and physical disruption that affects the concentration and performance of the people working around them. The workflow requirements of high-volume machinery conflict with the more variable movement patterns of a general warehouse operation. 

By housing the Machine Room in a separate building, Bray Solutions has created an environment where the contract packing team can focus entirely on the work at hand, the machinery can be configured and maintained to the standard the work requires, and the workflow can be designed around the production sequence rather than adapted to fit around other activities. 

The Machinery and Services the Machine Room Provides 

Automated bagging handles high volumes of small component bagging and sealing efficiently. For clients packing seeds, nuts, food products, or other small items into individual or multi-count bags, the automated bagging line produces consistent output at a speed and cost that manual bagging cannot match at scale. 

Banding machinery accommodates the full range of banding specifications across different product types and pack configurations. Banding is used for multipacks, promotional bundles, and retail-ready packaging where a secure band holds multiple items together. 

Shrink wrapping provides a tamper-evident, retail-ready finish to products and multipacks. The shrink wrap equipment handles a range of product sizes and configurations. 

High-volume labelling maintains speed and accuracy across large production runs. This is the capability that underpinned the seeds and nuts project, where over 8 million individual label applications were made within a three-month window. 

Batch coding prints traceability codes, date codes, and product description information directly onto packaging, essential for food products and other goods with regulatory traceability requirements. 

Kimball tagging is a specialist capability not widely available in general 3PL operations. The Machine Room houses Kimball tagging facilities for fashion and retail clients requiring retagging and labelling of garments and accessories. 

How Finished Goods Move Directly From Machine Room to Fulfilment 

Once contract packing work is complete in the Machine Room, finished goods do not need to be transferred to a separate fulfilment provider. They move directly into Bray Solutions’ warehousing and storage system for ongoing storage and ecommerce fulfilment, or are despatched via our 3PL shipping network to their end destination. 

This integration eliminates the transfer costs and time delays that apply when contract packing and fulfilment are managed by separate providers. The WMS is updated as soon as completed goods are moved into the warehousing system, making them immediately available for order fulfilment. 

The Machine Room represents a significant investment in Bray Solutions’ contract packing capability, and it reflects our commitment to being able to handle the full range of what our clients’ products require. If your business has a high-volume rework, relabelling, repackaging, or contract packing requirement, we would be glad to discuss whether the Machine Room is the right solution for your specific project. 

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Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: Why did Bray Solutions invest in a dedicated Machine Room rather than continuing to run contract packing in the main warehouse? 

A: Because high-volume machinery-based contract packing requires an environment optimised for it. Machinery running in a shared warehouse creates noise and disruption affecting other operations. A dedicated facility allows both the contract packing team and the fulfilment team to work in environments properly designed for their respective tasks. 

Q: What types of contract packing does the Machine Room handle? 

A: The Machine Room handles automated bagging, banding, shrink wrapping, high-volume labelling, batch coding, and Kimball tagging. It is designed for high-volume, machinery-based operations where consistency, throughput, and quality control across large numbers of individual units are the primary requirements. 

Q: What is Kimball tagging and why is it not widely available in standard 3PL operations? 

A: Kimball tagging attaches price and product information tags to garments and retail products to trading partner specifications. It requires specific machinery and trained operatives, which is why it is not a standard capability in general 3PL operations that do not invest specifically in the equipment and expertise. 

Q: How does the Machine Room integrate with Bray Solutions’ wider 3PL operation? 

A: Finished goods from the Machine Room move directly into Bray Solutions’ warehousing system for storage and ecommerce fulfilment, or are despatched via our 3PL shipping network. The WMS updates as soon as completed goods are received, making them immediately available for order fulfilment without a separate transfer or goods-in process. 

Q: Can the Machine Room handle project-based work alongside ongoing contract packing arrangements? 

A: Yes. The Machine Room accommodates both ongoing contract packing engagements and project-based or seasonal work simultaneously. The dedicated facility has the throughput capacity to manage large one-off rework projects alongside the ongoing contract packing arrangements of other clients.