Equipping the industry

The cornerstones of this year’s Processing & Packaging Machinery Association exhibition will be Automation, Innovation, Efficiency and Technology, and the show promises to deliver insight into maximising the productivity, consistency and quality of products and services in the processing and packaging industries.

As well as opportunities for visitors and exhibitors to do business and make new contacts, a series of panel debates will focus on some of the most pertinent issues affecting and challenging the industry today. Topics to be aired will include, on the first day, ‘Should packaging machinery manufacturers and suppliers take more interest in consumer trends?’; while on the Thursday, the panel will address the subject of ‘Competitive advantage delivered by automation and vision technologies’.

Also returning to the PPMA show is the Ones to Watch competition, created to acknowledge the best and brightest up-and-coming talent in the industry. The overall winner will be announced at the show during a special awards ceremony.

Having attended the 2011 show, Torsten Giese, marketing manager PR and Exhibitions at Ishida Europe, says: “What was evident last year was that even in troubled economic times, companies are still prepared to invest in the right equipment where they can see real benefits in terms of fast payback and improved line efficiencies. We believe this will remain a key theme for the 2012 event.”

Colin Griffiths, chairman of Golden Valley Pallet Wrap Specialists and an exhibitor from last year’s event, adds: “We’ve exhibited at various shows, but I knew that if we improved our stand, we could do very well at the PPMA show last year. On the first day alone we generated over 100 good leads. The 2011 exhibition was the best we’ve experienced as a company and we’re looking forward to this year’s show.”

Handling, processing

Leading pneumatic and electric drive technology company Festo (stand B27) will be displaying some new development concepts in handling and positioning, including the T gantry handling system. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet Festo Food & Beverage specialists, on hand to discuss automation challenges in the food and packaging industries.

RA Rodriguez UK (stand D72) will have its “flexible and cost-effective” Universal Robot robotic arm on display, complete with a new model. Both Universal Robot arms are ideal where traditional robots are considered to be too large, expensive, noisy or not sufficiently flexible, the company says, and both are entry-level automation devices that provide six axes of movement, operating from a standard 240V supply.

Focusing on the transfer of high viscosity products, Kecol Pumping Systems (stand E41) will be displaying its new One Shot system for delivering an accurate dose for filling, batching and other applications where a predetermined volume is required. In addition, the company’s Spring Free Air Motor is a new design, featuring improved reciprocating air motors to provide a smoother change of direction.

ShrinkPack (stand G44) will be displaying B&B Maf’s StretchPacker and the Steambox Pro from Karlville Development. For shrink film collation replacement, StretchPacker removes the need for a shrink tunnel, there is “no influence of heat on sensitive products and printed film can be used”; and for carton collation replacement, ShrinkPack claims “considerable raw material cost savings” can be achieved.

The Steambox Pro is part of the range of shrink tunnels offered by Karlville with integrated boiler technology, and is available in 1 and 2m tunnel lengths “ideal for integration to the SpeedPro range of Karlville shrink sleeve applicators”.

Multipond (stand D56) will be introducing its new integrated lift weigher series, the LW 1000 – already in operation at various well-known manufacturers in the ready meals sector in England, Canada and the US. The LW 1000 is a hybrid combination of a 12-head multihead weigher and a mobile lift frame. The motor driven height adjustment can be programmed for different filling heights for varying applications, and the unit can be moved off line and lowered to a comfortable height for ease of access for cleaning when a production run is finished.

The new QX-775-Flex tray sealer from Ishida Europe (stand C51) will make its exhibition debut, alongside models from the company’s CCW-R multihead weigher, DACS checkweigher, IX X-ray system and SPA Strip Pack Applicator ranges, and the iTPS complete packing line for snacks. The QX-775-Flex system combines a compact design with high speeds for MAP trays of up to 15 cycles/min.

Spiroflow (stand G16) will be exhibiting a bulk bag discharger and a bulk bag filler alongside its tubular drag conveyors and tilting mobile flexible screw conveyor with adjustable height outlet. Flexicon (stand F27) will introduce a number of bulk bag delivery systems, including a combination Bulk Bag Filler with Pallet Dispenser and Powered Roller Conveyor for safe high capacity, with simultaneous filling of two bulk bags.

CPA Engineered Solutions (stand G31) will be demonstrating its Enershield energy saving air barriers, which use an accurate flow of high volume, high speed air to create a ‘virtual doorway’ – up to a 90% seal over an opening that people and vehicles can still pass through.

Detection, inspection, testing

Lock Inspection (stand A53) is offering the new in-process Insight PH Gravity Fall metal detection system, which aims to enable pharmaceutical manufacturers to achieve greater product integrity during the production process. The system inspects raw materials in powder or granular form for contaminants at a flow rate of up to 3,000kg/hour prior to the tableting process.

S+S Inspection (stand B75) will be displaying three systems covering most applications in the packaging and processing industries, particularly the food sector. The Liquiscan metal detection system for liquid, viscous and paste products removes both magnetic and non-magnetic metallic contamination before the filling equipment, with the minimum loss of good product. Visitors can also view the “versatile” Raycon X-ray inspection system, while a new detector head in the company’s GHF metal detector is heavier and larger for maximum stability and durability, and provides IP65 protection for food industry operating conditions.

Systech Illinois (stand F50) will show its range of permeation analysers and headspace gas analysers. The products are suited to testing all packaging films, finished packs and PET bottles, offering fast, easy to use, accurate analysis of gas flushed food packs and headspace analysis of any kind.

Industrial sensor specialist Sick (stand A50) will be highlighting its MultiLine twin light beam technology and W27-3 MultiPac single-unit optical sensor, which operates without the need for reflectors. MultiLine ensures a stable, continuous detection signal, consistently detecting low profile, uneven or glossy product surfaces. The W27-3 MultiPac is said to improve handling efficiency and productivity.

Labelling, printing, coding

Markem-Imaje (stand D10) will be introducing its all-in print services package, Smile, launched to facilitate the purchase of new machinery. New products on show from across the company’s range will include the “ultra-fast” SmartDate X60 (thermal transfer system for the most demanding production lines; the 9222 (continuous inkjet), designed for standard applications across an array of industries; and the 9232E, an inkjet printer designed specifically to meet the needs of the extrusion industry for marking and coding cables, wires, tubes and profiles.

Euromark (stand A57) will introduce its new Anser U2 printer, said to remove the costs associated with label application by delivering high speed marking and coding on porous and non-porous packaging “without compromising on quality”. Compact and easy to install, Anser U2 uses fast drying, non-smearing ink and cartridges that are easy to replace and require no cleaning. It is also capable of printing a logo.

As well as its established Thermocode series of continuous and intermittent thermal printers, the centrepiece of the Open Date Equipment stand (A45) will be the latest version of its Thermocode iQ thermal transfer printer, which now features the company’s own Editor software. A 7-inch touchscreen display shows print images that can be created or edited using an intuitive drag and drop function, and the operator can zoom in and out when creating or editing. The iQ will print text, graphics, dates, barcodes and 2D codes onto a wide range of flexible materials.

The printhead is electronically driven by three stepper motors that can be very accurately controlled, meaning a print speed of 400mm/sec and a maximum print area of 53 x 100mm can be achieved.

On stand D31, as well as Köra-Packmat leaflet and booklet feeders, Advanced Dynamics will have a full range of Pack Leader Labelling machines on display, ranging from the tabletop ELF50 and ELF20 side wrap and top wrap systems to the high speed PPRO 625 suitable for all front and back and side wrap applications for all glass, plastics and complex shaped bottles and tubs. The company will also exhibit the Matrix high specification applicator, used for exacting applications and, due to its size, suitable for mounting onto flow wrap machines to apply labels onto the film rather than the pack.

The Travtec Group (stand E10) will be introducing enhanced versions of its on and offline coding solutions that enable companies to meet the latest EC track and trace regulations. By providing total control of the carton during the print and vision process to ensure the accurate and high quality printing of high density barcodes and 2D codes to ECC200/GS1 standards, both the new Pharmacarton Elite and enlarged TR-760-TT Speed Feeder are able to meet the new requirements of recent EC Falsified Medicines Directive legislation.

The Travtec Pharmacarton Elite features a new compact and sleek design that includes a redesigned, user-friendly menu-driven touchscreen interface that allows simplified operation and easy changeovers.

The latest offering from AMS (stand H50) is the Speedstar 3000, a short run desktop digital colour label printer with a large colour touchscreen, interfaces and high quality Memjet printheads. The machine is said to give users the freedom to print the exact amount of labels they need in high quality at “extremely low cost”. The printer will run in full colour at 1,600 x 800dpi at 300mm/sec or 1,600 x 1,600dpi at 150mm/sec. Print width ranges from 50-222mm, and substrates from 0.13-0.33mm thick can be handled.

End of line

End of line specialist Endoline (stand D30) will launch a new generation of tray erectors designed and built to meet growing demands from manufacturers for smaller, more compact machinery. The Endoline 511 Tray Erector has been engineered into a vertical format, resulting in a system built to a significantly smaller footprint than original tray erecting machines. With an output speed of up to 30 trays/min, the 511 Tray Erector is said to be ideally suited to retail ready packaging applications and can be integrated into a completely automatic line with tray loader/shrink wrapper for a shelf ready transit pack, or used as a stand-alone unit for manual tray packing.

Coming together on stand E50, three separate companies – Codeology, AP Machinery and Specialised Industrial Chemicals – will put together a complete, simple, low cost integrated production line in order to “illustrate how simple it can be to automate the end of line manufacturing processes”. The production line will demonstrate the ease of use of automation equipment and the “rapid payback from lower labour and handling costs” for manufacturers who are still carrying out manual processes such as hand labelling, manual liquid filing and hand carton taping.

Automation specialist Pacepacker Services (stand C70) will debut its new FlexaPac system. The patented tray and crate packing solution for delicate netted fruits, vegetables and other foods achieves throughput in excess of 60 packs/min and, says the company, it overcomes the “traditionally labour intensive and waste-prone process of packing netted delicate products into shelf ready cartons, trays and crates”.

Sharing the Pacepacker space on stand C70 will be a palletiser from the company’s 15 year-long strategic partner Fanuc Robotics. The Fanuc M-710iC high speed six-axis palletising robot with multi-purpose end effector is described as being ideal for manufacturers with limited space and those looking to stack numerous product types, including trays, sacks and crates, without Travtec Pharmacarton Elite part changeover.

Shrinkpack StretchPacker Shrinkpack Travtec Pharmacarton Elite Travtec Sick’s MultiLine and W27-3-MultiPac sensors Sick Festo T gantry handling system Festo Open Date Thermocode iQ Open Date Lock Inspection’s Insight metal detection system Lock Inspection Multipond LW 1000 integrated lift weigher series Multipond S+S Inspection Liquiscan metal detector S+S Inspection RA Rodriguez: introducing a new model of its long reach Universal Robot RA Rodriguez