Many of us will remember Sherbet Fountain dips with its
soggy paper and cardboard and open liquorice stick. Well, despite
objections from many nostalgia driven oldies (like myself!), I suspect
someone decided it wasn't really up to modern food safety standards and
have repackaged it in plastic. Tangerine
Confectionery who also own such old favourites as Barratts,
Butterkist, Jameson's and Taveners have invested in new production and
packaging facilities at their large recently rebuilt factory in
Pontefract. They report a 20% increase in sales in the UK and are now
promoting it over seas with large orders from Australia already
secured. One of the most popular formats is the 'multi-pack' which is
collated and packed on machinery supplied by midasmotion. A
simple arrangement allows single tubes of Sherbet to be packed into
wholesale boxes or multi-pack retail bags on the same same specially
adapted Tisomi Tuscan packing
machine.
Britania Superfine Ltd have installed a fully automated
chocolate bar line at their southern UK plant. They manufacture in
volume and supply most of the major UK supermarket chains with their
'own-brand' chocolate bars. The packing line accepts bars directly from
the moulding line and chiller, arranges them into an orderly single
line, passes them into an in-line feeder which queues and positions
them into an integrated flow-wrapper. It can handle a very wide range
of bars from 5 grams to 150 grams with change over times for the
packing line measured in seconds and requiring none of the usual
'size-change' parts. The complete manufacturing and packing line
requires no full-time operators and packs at up to 250 bars per minute
with cold or hot seal film. A video of the line is available on YouTube.
Film Registration
Kit for Pre-Printed Wrapping Material
28 November 2009
A new 'Film Registration' product has been launched that
caters for the trend towards
pre-printed wrapping material. Advertised on www.packaging-machine.org.uk,
it's essentially a kit of parts that makes almost any flow-wrapper
suitable for pre-printed as well as plain film. It
accurately positions registration marks
printed on the material with the cutting action of the machine, thus
positioning the film graphics accurately around the product. The makersoffer
an on-site fitting service or a DIY kit which they claim can be easily
fitted by
maintenance engineers to almost any flow-wrap type packing machine. It
can also be used to replace the traditional electro-mechanical film
registration systems, giving a more accurate and consistent
registration with immediate pull-in and no wasted packs.
KernPack
have signed a distribution agreement with Italian company Tecnovac.
It
means KernPack can now supply and maintain Tecnovac's vacuum packing,
tray sealing and thermoforming machines. The Swiss parent company,
Kern,
are a long established company primarily operating in the mailing and
document management industry. However, headed by their UK branch,
KernPack Ltd, who are already a distributor of Tecno Pack horizontal packaging machines are
apparently pushing deeper into into the food packaging industry.
According to their latest press release they have big expectations for
the new product line and at this years PPMA show they claim that
enquiries for the Tecnovac line exceeded their expectations.
Flow-Pack runs at
1000 heat sealed packs per minute
15 October 2009
AMP-Rose of
Gainsborough have built two flow-pack machines packing up to 60mm
length packs at 1000 packs per minute using heat sealable film. They
were just part of a complete production and packing line supplied by
AMP-Rose to Cadbury's South Africa. Like most current AMP-Rose
flow-pack machines, new and refurbished, they used brushless servo
motors and a multi-axis motion controller. Apparently the control
system was no different to that fitted to many other multi-axis
machines - it's a midasmotion system that simply runs that fast if
it needs to.
Mechanically the machine is quite simple but rugged and uses a
continuously rotating sealing head fitted with quad jaws and knives and
a bowl style feeder for automatically loading the infeed. Each rotating
axis is connected directly to its own servo motor and, despite the high
speed, the motion control system not only keeps accurate film
registration but provides a tightly synchronised 'cam' action on the
jaw to allow packing of different size products at over 1000 packs per
minute. Apparently extensively tested to 1200 packs per minute, these
machines sound impressive.
Oh, how I love Banks - but can they teach us anything?
23 February 2009
During a thirty year engineering career,
primarily running small businesses, I have always had the strongest
contempt for banks and
bankers. Every time I began to think I'm perhaps being a tad
unreasonable and give them an opportunity to have me as their customer,
their self
serving superior attitude and down-right incompetence never fails to
fill me
with even deeper contempt. Perhaps their attitude is a natural one - a
defence against the realisation that they're simply an unproductive
leech that skims it's existence
off the back of productive individuals, industries and institutions.
So,
despite the hardships their collective incompetence has dropped on
all our heads (and the extreme hardship on some), it's almost with a
sort of vengeful glee that I view their self destruction. Or at least I
would if we could possibly let it happen - of course we can't so
it just feeds my contempt to the point of anger!
So, is there a lesson for us too? Have the traditional
suppliers of packing and product handling
machinery grown complacent during the 'good' years - high prices and an
infrastructure that demands high margins. Worse still,
they have lost much of their engineering depth. Their design
departments consist of draftsmen who have learned how to create
impressive looking drawings on 3-D CAD computers but essentially
regurgitate the same old concepts over and over. Are there any real
designers left in the UK packaging machinery industry, or indeed in the
UK at all, guys who instinctively start with an equation scribbled on
an A4 pad, who know how to work out the torque requirements of a cam
profile load, or the bending moments in a complex shape, or can
program
a micro-processor in its native binary language? And if there are
- are they in a position to make a difference, are they allowed to
invent the best all-round engineering solutions,
or are they overruled
to the point of irrelevance by engineering inept
marketing and 'sales engineers' whose primary aim is to sell - sell
anything, it doesn't
matter if its any good so long as it sells for the highest price,
with the biggest margins, destroys the competition and propagates the
swelling infrastructure necessary to justify their own existence. But
are they expanding towards eventual disaster when someone finally does
it better or will it end up as one big global company per industry
- like Microsoft - totally controlling their industry so that they can
stifle real progress and fool us into thinking an 'unfit for purpose'
abysmally poor fault-ridden product is actually good!
So,
having had a good rant, is there anything constructive or positive to
say? Well just occasionally I come across a remaining seed of real UK
designers - creative, intuitive but down-to-earth engineers who
still have all the proper 'tools' in their tool-box. Usually tucked
away in small specialist
engineering
companies, the sort of companies that thrive on reacting quickly with
solutions based on engineering merit. Keep an eye out for such people
and feed them whenever you can - one day, they may be the ones to
save us from ourselves, because unlike banks, we don't have a an
all-encompassing safety net to keep our industry alive. For now, at
least, they can still give you a surprisingly good low-cost alternative
to the big corporate players with their slick salesmen.
TISOMI (UK) Ltd have recently announced a joint venture
to supply robot packing systems to compliment their existing line of flow-wrappers
and in-line
feeders. They can now supply robot loading
systems for their flow-wrappers
which can handle the most demanding and complex tasks. The robots
themselves are from Adept, one of the biggest and most respected
manufacturer of primary robots. Single or
multiple robots
are built into packing
cells and integrated with latest generation high speed vision systems
by TISOMI's
long term technical partner, Midasmotion. Peter Miller of TISOMI says
"It's crucial that we have a well integrated link between the packing machines,
the robots
and other equipment and by using Midasmotion, who already provide our
software and technical design, we feel we are in the best possible
position to offer the best systems at the best price".
There is a growing trend towards pre-printed wrapping
material.
Pre-printed film is obviously more expensive than plain generic clear
film as it has to undergo a relatively complex extra process.
Traditionally it's used to promote high quality premium
products. sell-by, best-before, or batch codes are printed
directly onto the film
using wet-ink or thermal-transfer printers. With plain film such
printers can also generate further information either directly onto the
film or onto a label. However as the requirement to print more and
more information on each pack grows so does the cost of consumables
such as ink and thermal ribbons. Self adhesive labels are good for
short production runs but can be an expensive and tend to give a low
volume 'small company' appearance. When costs are fully analyzed
pre-printed film can be a cost effective solution as well as providing
a much more professional high quality pack. So that leaves us with
the problem of machinery - many old packing
machines either don't handle
pre-printed film at all or don't do it very well. Of course you can buy
new machines or you can modify existing ones. Midasmotion, for
instance, offer a kit of parts to add film registration to almost any
existing flow-wrapper.
It's even worth updating old machines that can already use pre-printed
film as Midasmotion's approach offers much better accuracy,
repeatability and less wasted bags.
During the last decade or so there has been a
steady but continuous
trend of adopting horizontal form-fill-seal machines, or flow
wrappers
as they are known,
in place of other forms of automatic and semi-automatic
packing.
There's perhaps several reasons for this.
Firstly, flowrappers
provide a high quality well presented pack. For instance
the leading UK brand of potato crisps moved from vertical baggers to
horizontal flowrappers
for its multi-pack products. Their marketing
department prefer the flowrapped product - and marketing departments
always have the final say! Most of the other snack food manufacturers
are now
following and changing to horizontal flowrapping.
Secondly,
flow wrappers
are high speed high performance
machines. Packaging
rates for small confectionery products can exceed 500 pack/min. Even at
low speeds with hand loading the latest multi-motor electronic machines
have a wealth of features that transform packing
machine efficiency.
Thirdly, latest
generation machines are extremely versatile. With a fully adjustable
forming-box it's not unusual for a specialist bakery to have over 100
products stored in the machine's memory and be able to swap from one to
another sometimes within seconds.
Finally,
and obviously, price is a major factor. Peter Miller
who co-founded TISOMI says "so much has
changed in recent years - technology has transformed their capabilities
and expanded the range of potential applications, the competitive
nature of the industry has pushed the price down and down whilst
customer
expectations have grown".
According to their site "the PPMA
Show is the UK’s annual showcase for processing and packaging
machinery. Now entering its 20th year, the exhibition provides
you with the best opportunity to source, evaluate and purchase
machinery, equipment and ancillary products & services for all
your
processing & packaging requirements."
I have been involved with more packaging
machinery exhibitions over the years than I could possibly
remember. It
used to be they were big events with huge multi-floor stands at the
centre moving outwards to the small one-man concerns at the edges. Now
days there are too many, they're too expensive, they're too small and
not enough people attend. Of course the organisers and the marketing
departments of some exhibitors put a positive spin on things. But most
exhibitors I talk to complain bitterly about how few customers they
bring in and how it's not worth the cost anymore. PFM for
instance have stuck with it and usually put on a reasonable show, while
Ilapak seem to have abandoned UK exhibitions almost completely. With
the exception of a few, such as flowrap manufacturer TISOMI,
its rare to find any new exhibitors and the existing ones take smaller
and smaller stands.
Is it all the fault of the internet? Who knows!
but certainly the web is now a, if not the, major
marketing resource.
The dates for the PPMA
Show 2009 are 29th September - 1st October.
Machinery sales and refurbishment company Packaging
Overhaul’s
assets have been bought out of administration by sister company PolPharma
Services.
The High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire-based business went into administration on 28 November
with London insolvency practitioner Geoffrey Martin & Co and
the
deal with PolPharma
was secured on the same
day. PolPharma sales director Tony Parrett, who had also been sales
director of Packaging Overhaul, told Packaging
Newsthat
the Packaging Overhaul business had specialised in refurbishing
wrapping machinery for the confectionery industry but had suffered from
that sector’s move to flow-wrapping.
He said: "Flow-wrapping
machines are almost as expensive to refurbish as they are to buy new,
so unfortunately there wasn’t much business left there."
Packaging
Overhaul’s directors had already branched out of the confectionery
sector, launching PolPharma Services two years ago to focus on the
pharmaceutical, cosmetic, toiletries and household side of the
business. According to Companies House records, Packaging Overhaul was
first
incorporated in 1965.
Used
flowrappers - bargain or expensive
liability?
4 December 2008
There's
always plenty of old redundant flowrappers around, specially at
the
moment. So
of course you can get a second-hand bargain. But a flowrapper
can cost
you thousands if you buy the wrong
one. So you need
to ask yourself some basic questions before you part with your money.
Last month I found six old PFM flowrappers in working order that
the
owner can't give away - they're not even worth the
transportation cost.
Whether direct from a user or from a dealer,
the first question is - is it a basic mechanical model? Walk away from
any complex electronic multi-motor machine or any that has custom
control
components - such equipment can go obsolete almost as quickly as your
laptop computer and replacing it will
cost you more than the machine is worth.
Secondly
- is the manufacturer still in business and do they still support that
specific model? Parts will be worn and need replacing either now or at
some time in the near future and its an expensive job to have them
specially made and fitted. Even parts still in production can be
expensive - Record Packaging have made essentially the same
machines for years but I've heard a lot of complaints recently about
big increases in
the cost of their spares and service.
Thirdly, does it do exactly
what you want. Flowrappers
are usually built to
pack a specific product
or
range of products and modifying them to suit another product is an
expert job that can be expensive.
And lastly - have you checked the
availability of new ones. It's a very competitive business and
technology has moved on in recent years. Is there a low cost new
machine that comes with proper support and warranty and will come
professionally
setup to pack your products. Two low cost UK suppliers are TISOMI
and CSS.
Both make and supply entry level machines at prices lower than many
dealers are selling second hand machines.
Delta robots
are those fast
'pick-and-place' spider like robots
that hang down from the ceiling. They are invaluable pieces of
equipment which drastically reduce labour costs and increase efficiency
across many industries, including food
packaging. Indeed, the
first
application for delta
robots was in a bakery,
where 6 robots
were used
to package 510 bretzels (a kind of oversized pretzel) per minute!
However, until recently there were 36 strongly enforced patents which
meant the only one available was the 'Demaurex' version or it's
licensed derivatives and these were in the complete control world-wide
of just three related companies. What usually
happens when a highly prized patent runs out is the market takes over
and unrestricted innovation pushes up performance, the range of
applications grows rapidly and the price obviously comes
down. It
wont be quite the 'free for all' that many initially
expect though as the technology and range of expertise required to make
and
apply
delta robots is quite high. A big USA manufacturer of robots
is Adept
who have been been very quick to release a faster higher
performing delta version. Their control equipment is already found in
the higher end applications of existing ABB/Demaruax delta robots so
they are well placed to take up the challenge. In the UK small
specialist companies such as midasmotion
who have always been deeply involved with the technology and software
in complex packaging applications can integrate Adept delta robots as
part of complete packing line.
Of
all thepacking
machines available today Horizontal Form-Fill-Seal
wrappers, or 'flowrappers',
are by far the
most common. Despite prices of such machines
being driven ever lower, UK customers still demand a high level of
engineering quality. Even before the current
'credit crunch' some well established names in the flowrap
business had
been unable to adapt to the new world of competition. Last
year Bristol based Bradman Lake, owners of troubled
UK flowrap
manufacturer, Autowrappers,
went into administration. Before that, Notem, the UK arm
of the large Italian
manufacturer, Otem, closed down its operation in the UK. Rose-Forgrove,
who a few decades ago were the undisputed world
leader in flowrappers
now occupy a small
part of it's parent companies
factory. Just last week Ilapak, another big player in the UK
market, made a significant part of its UK workforce
redundant. Various rumours abound about other well established
suppliers.
But its' not all bad news - both AMP-Rose
and relative newcomer TISOMI seem to be bucking the
trend. AMP-Rose
have been quietly cornering the specialist multi-pack snack food market
in recent years, often coupled to complex robot
feeding systems
engineered by midasmotion. At the other end of
the market many
insiders seem to be blaming TISOMI for the
current viscous price war. TISOMI claim their technology and designs
are UK based,
although much of their components originate from Italy and China with
machines being assembled in the UK. Still, that's more than most other
UK suppliers who seem simply to be sales agents for
Italian or Spanish
manufactured machines.
