Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The New Job

So I keep getting asked what i do now for a new job, so thought i'd share.....
I now work for Barlean's Organic Oils. We create products using both Flax seed oil and fish oils, both focused around Omega 3, 6, and 9 fats (all good fats). We make everything from the fish oil capsule's that many of you take every morning, flax seed, flax oil, fish oil's ie: cod liver oil, and one of the most popular Swirl....wich is a blend of fish or flax oil made to taste like a fruit smoothie. This was created for people who hate to swallow the fish oil pills, or can't stand the taste of flax oil or fish oil products.
Barleans has flavors such as mango peach, orange cream, choc. rasberry, blueberry, stawberry banana, lemon, and Pina colada....to name a few.

Where i exactly fit in at this place is in the Bottleing department. I started out in the clean room learning a fairly complicated and interesting machine that is designed to bottle Barlean's swirl products in an array of different sized bottles.

Here is a picture of what the entire contraption looks like. (there are actually two bottle machines operating in this room, the other bottle's true oil such as flax oil/fish oil it is located just on the other side of this machine in the picture) This room would be known as a clean room.

The bottle's start here, in what is called the bottle sorter. We run sizes ranging from 8oz, 12oz, 16oz, 24oz, and even 32oz.. The sorter can hold approx. 400 bottles and can process them in about 5 minutes.....
This is where the action happens. The touch screen control's everything for the most part. You can see 4 nozzles in the picture, we typically run 6. The box with the blue touch pad is a nitrogen doseing machine. Each bottle gets a dose of liquid nitrogen, to elimante bottle's from panneling (sides being sucked in due to pressure changes)
From there the bottles run down to the capper, pictured below. They spin around in the rotary chuck and a cap is placed on and then tightened and then conveyered to another room where a label is put on.

Since i started my job has changed from operating this machine to learning a multitude of different equipment. I've been promoted to a different position with a main task of elminiating down time, allowing for more bottles to be produced in the end.
So the new job is a far cry from the world of Land Surveying, but i can honestly say i enjoy the New job and has allowed me and my family to begin a new chapter in our lives.
So, Signing off from the North.....Where things in bottles not only taste good but are good for ya....which is nice....
Mark...."The Iron Skillet"


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