A new tray sealing machine has helped Scottish soft fruit grower Blacketyside Farm execute a 25 per cent increase in orders for strawberries and raspberries.
Responding to this surge in demand, Blacketyside Farm in Fife on Scotland’s east coast installed a high-speed and energy-efficient tray sealing machine called Revolution manufactured by Packaging Automation (PA).
The tray sealer is capable of sealing up to 200 packs per minute, PA claims.
Andrew Todd from Blacketyside Farm, which supplies the UK’s major supermarkets, commented: “The machine is fast, efficient, easy to use and provides more output than we had before. PA’s service team are very supportive and are available when we need them over the phone and in person.”
One of the challenges that PA faced when installing the machinery was accommodating different printed film designs on just one size of punnet sealing tool. But the company was able to programme different recipes for each film design, which, it claimed, meant no mechanical adjustments were needed for film changeovers, leading to a reduction in cost and downtime for the producer.
Blacketyside Farm has also reduced unplanned downtime by up to 90 per cent, PA claimed, thanks a ‘pod tooling system’. This comprises a host plate and a series of single impression removable cartridges to enable continued operation during repairs, maintenance and breakdowns.
In addition, tool warm-ups are 36 per cent quicker thanks to the use of silicone-coated heater mats, according to PA.
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