MEATing POINT Magazine: #08/ 2016

PACKAGING
THE KEY TO SEALING SUCCESS
Ongoing pack developments require equipment flexibility,
explains Tony Burgess of Proseal
The growth in popularity of skin packs and
other new formats for meat and poultry
products, such as MAP gas flushing and
Vacuum MAP sealing, is creating additional
challenges for equipment suppliers.
Skin packs feature a special film
that seals to all surfaces of a tray –
rim, sidewalls and base – to tightly
cover the entire contents. The packs
were first adopted primarily for
fish products but are now being
increasingly seen for other types
of foods such as ready to cook
meals, game, meat and sausage
products, and mini joints.
Skin packing comes in a number of formats
- skin below and above the flange, and Skin
Deep, which allows a 100mm protrusion of
product over the top of the tray.
Such developments have led to many meat
processors experimenting with pack formats,
particularly for new products. At the same
time it is imperative that, while exploring these
options, they are still able to maintain current
production. In addition, the proliferation of
new products means many manufacturers
now have to be able to handle a variety of
different packs on their lines.
For this reason, an element of futureproofing
is vital in the development
of new tray sealers, so that food
manufacturers have the reassurance
of knowing that they will have the
capability to handle the latest
packing trend without the need to
invest in new kit every time.
Our latest models, for example, can
handle all of the above-mentioned
sealing formats, and these options
can be added at any time, and
even removed if required. This
gives manufacturers the flexibility
easily to switch between packs
during normal production, or to
run trial packs.
In addition, as we develop new
features in line with new customer
requirements, we ensure that these
can also be retrofitted to models
already out on the production floor.
In terms of line speeds, the introduction of
new technologies such as following motion
and intelligent buffering, which enable trays
to feed continuously into a tray sealer without
having to pre-sort and adjust pack spacing,
have helped to increase speeds. They also
improve product handling since there are
fewer line stoppages due to misplaced trays.
Meanwhile, the availability of online
monitoring of equipment and the ability to
collect data on small but unscheduled line
stoppages can help production managers
and engineers identify recurring problems
and implement corrective action to maximise
line uptime.
Both of these developments also
underline the importance of developing
fully integrated packing lines, where
individual pieces of equipment are
linked together to help maximise
efficiencies and which can be tailored
to the precise needs of individual
products.
The meat market remains very fastmoving
and competitive. Machinery
suppliers need therefore to be able to
respond just as quickly to both current and
future trends.
www.proseal.com
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