Baking & Snack - April 2006 - 84

PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY

ers have helped drive the small bag trend because of the
multipacks they offer and often require their suppliers to
deliver. "These multipacks have increased our customers'
needs for more reliable, high-speed, continuous-motion
packaging machinery," he said.
He pointed out that many of the larger snack companies are set up to package in smaller bags, but there
are many small or midsize companies that are now being
required to supply smaller sizes. "We help by providing
systems to fit the needs of midrange companies," he said.
"Reliable scales on both ends are very important with
small bags and multipacks because you need to consistently weigh the little bags, so the multipack contains
the correct number of bags with the correct amount,"
he continued.
A California-based equipment supplier said its customers' demands have changed. "Speed has been a driving force. Lines keep getting faster with smaller bags,"
he said. This company's twin-jaw continuous-motion
bagmaker is ideal for high speeds up to around 180 bags
per minute depending on the product. The machine also
features a continuous rotary seam seal band instead of a
static bar. "The key to high-speed packaging is the transition in the angle that the product is discharged from the
weigher. With the steeper angle that is required for higher
speed, you have to raise the machine up, resulting in a
taller machine. The goal is to optimize the way the product is discharged through the weigher," said the company
representative. "While high speed with small bags is important, efficiency is the key."

A vertical f/f/s machine with combination net weighing scale system
weighs and bags snack foods, cookies and other baked foods.
KEY-PAK MACHINES

change slightly day by day with each truckload of potatoes and drastically from season to season."
The density of the potato affects the fill of the bag, and
for example, with a denser potato, there will be fewer
chips in the bag. With less density, the chips are very big
and light, which causes problems getting them into the
bags without being caught in the seal. This is a bigger
problem with smaller bags.
"To eliminate this problem, our machines have a stripping mechanism that strips the snack out of the way of
sealing so the machine can still operate at high speeds
of more than 100 bags per minute," said the representative. The stripper/tube-closer contacts the film ahead of
the arriving dump. As the previous dump is stipped clear
of the seal area, the strippers and tube-closers separate,
clearing the seal, so the jaws can seal and cut the bag.
A US representative from a Brazilian equipment manufacturer said that Wal-Mart and other mass merchandis-

90 / BAKING & SNACK / April 2006

EFFICIENT OPERATIONS. In addition to speed, snack
manufacturers are seeking overall efficiency in the packaging area. "Machine uptime is key for our customers,"
said a representative from a California-based supplier.
"Changeover time and ease of sanitation and maintenance all contribute to efficiency. We're really focused on
total line efficiency. We want the vertical f/f/s machine to
be running as efficiently as possible."
The lifecycle cost of the machinery also comes into
play in terms of efficiency. "We want to make sure that
the annual cost of maintaining the machine is as low as
possible," said the California-based company.
An equipment manufacturer based on the East Coast
echoed this opinion. "Everyone is looking for efficiency.
They want more emphasis on controls design, so they
can have uniformity across multiple lines even across different vendors," said the company representative.
"We've seen an increase in interest in plant communication systems that integrate packaging into the plant,
so it is no longer a separate line in a separate room," he
continued. To meet these needs, the company is offering vertical f/f/s equipment with plant communications
systems. These machines can also be remotely monitored

Baking & Snack - April 2006

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - April 2006