Ishida Europe has invested more than £1 million in a dedicated Snacks Demonstration area at its UK manufacturing headquarters in Woodgate, Birmingham.
The food packaging equipment specialist ran a series of open days for its customers during November and December 2013 to unveil the new facility and highlight the company’s wide range of solutions for snacks packing.
The new Ishida Snacks Demonstration area is part of an ongoing investment at Ishida Europe, whose parent company in Japan celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2013.
The investment includes the opening of new offices for Ishida Europe’s commercial departments, next to its existing factory, which will enable the company to further expand its manufacturing operations.
Ishida's new Snacks Demonstration area features a full range of Ishida equipment from entry-level models to state-of-the-art high speed systems.
“The variety of models on show underlines Ishida’s ability to tailor a solution to the precise needs of individual customers and applications,” the company says.
Customers will also be able to test their products on the various systems. Among other features at the events was a preview of Ishida’s First Range – an entry-level weigher/bagmaker combination which offers an economic, medium speed solution, delivering fast payback on a reduced investment cost, while ensuring consistent weights, pack quality and seal integrity.
The events attracted customers from 35 snack food companies around Europe and beyond, and an order from leading Scottish crisp manufacturer Mackie’s was confirmed for an Ishida Atlas iTPS system.
“This new facility provides not only the chance for ‘hands on’ demonstrations, but it is also the ideal ‘try before you buy’ opportunity for our customers,” says Simon Ruffley, Ishida Europe’s business manager snacks packaging systems.
“Equally important, this type of face-to-face discussion enables us to keep track of the snacks market, its current challenges and future requirements, which is vital to our ongoing new product development work.”
