CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT Just Born®
J
ust Born®, the candy company known for its chick and bunny marshmallow PEEPS®, says JLS® isn’t just a supplier for automated robotic solutions—it’s a valued partner. “There are a lot of capable suppliers out there, but what really distinguished JLS is that they wanted to work ‘with us’ and not ‘for us.’ They are partners,” said Ross Born, CEO of the 98-year-old candy company when asked why they chose JLS to automate its production.
JLS® automated Just Born®’s PEEPS® marshmallow line and proved to be a true partner along the way.
in the candy business, not in the machine business. They knew what we needed and backed it up.” JLS built and tested the entire line in-house before packing up nine trailer loads of equipment prior to final assembly and commissioning at Just Born in only 10 days. “We’ve grown with JLS. They’ve helped us adapt our output to changing customer markets,” said Copeland. “They’ve demonstrated that they can take their base machine and expand capability in terms of the size, rates and mix of what we were packing, and that has great value.”
As it turns out, picking up a soft, sugar-coated marshmallow bunny is a real challenge. Thanks to JLS’ vision-guided robotic technology, combined with endof-arm robotic grippers from Soft Robotics, automating the marshmallow belt in Just “PICKING UP A SOFT, Born’s Bethlehem, Pa., plant SUGAR-COATED was possible.
According to Copeland, the partnership between JLS and Just Born is due to a combination of communiMARSHMALLOW cation, service and mutual “We weren’t looking for BUNNY IS A REAL respect. “One day, the a machine to do a task, we phone rings and it’s Craig were looking for a partner to CHALLENGE” saying he has an idea of help with factory automahow we can get better sertion projects to help us vice and be more efficient become better producers. in providing it to us, and wanted to set-up The combination of technical expertise a meeting with our maintenance team to and partnership is why we chose JLS,” said talk about it. Do you know how wonderRandall Copeland, Senior Vice President of ful it is to have a supplier that feels free Operations and Supply Chain at Just Born. to pick-up the phone and say let’s talk Born agrees that the level of service about a better way of doing things? That’s and how JLS presented solutions helped how true partnership works. It’s just that make Just Born’s largest investment even simple.” sweeter. “Craig and his team provided solutions, not problems,” he said. “We’re
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