Hardy Beverages’ growth and use of robots are energizing West Tennessee
The TNECD, TMEP, and other local manufacturing partners visited the thriving female-owned local facility.
In support of National Black-Owned Business Month and overall recognition of excellence, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) and the Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership (TMEP) visited Hardy Beverages in Memphis. The West Tennessee manufacturer is unique in several ways, but most notably it’s a Black Female-Owned manufacturing operation, which isn’t common anywhere in the country.
“Our state is defined by the brands that call Tennessee home, and it is important that we continue to recognize the businesses that are pillars across the state,” TNECD Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter said in a press release.
The company was founded in 2015 by Carolyn Hardy. Her idea was to produce bottles of hydrogen-infused water. According to the press release, the addition of hydrogen to the water increases antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Today, the company has grown exponentially. It has three different brands under one umbrella: HWTO, Nightlyfe, Skhy, and Rallie (which is for pets).
Another thing that makes this drink company so fascinating, is that they decided to package and bottle all their bottles at a plant in Memphis. According to a story from The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, “the company has added packaging and an automated conveyor belt system using SOMIC packaging technology system. The addition of the new system came out of a partnership with Bernadette Fuller who works with the University of Tennessee’s Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership (TMEP).”
The company also worked with TMEP to purchase a robot, which can help stack pallets and organize the Hardy Beverage products for shipments. Hardy told TMEP officials that it sped up her operations by nearly 10x.
The company is packaging anywhere from 60-80 pallets of product every day – with a maximum output of close to 10,000 water bottles on any given day.
Read more about Hardy Beverages from TNECD.
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