Packinghouse

The packinghouse or, packing shed, has been an American institution since the industrial revolution, though Mirriam-Webster claims its first use was in 1796.

Simply defined, the packinghouse is where food is processed for distribution.

Processing includes receiving produce from the fields, then storing, grading, cleaning, sizing and packing the crops for distribution to another packing facility for specialized packaging or to retail stores for sale to consumers.

Packinghouse facilities are limited by volume, therefore, picking, hardening and packinghouse transports must be scheduled to manage production flows and harvesting schedules together.