FORKLIFT TRUCKS
RAPTOR COMBI DELIVERS ON PRODUCTIVITY PROMISE
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n 2019, total factor productivity in food and drink manufacturing increased by 1.8 per cent1 with UK factories striving for greater processing efficiency. Fortress Technology critically establishes itself as a crucial contaminant detection specialist and high- profile UK food manufacturers are expressing strong interest in its performance-driven Raptor metal detector and checkweighing combination machine.
Flexible, fast and affordable, The Raptor Combi is Fortress Technology’s first fully integrated checkweigher and metal detector. Winner of Food Processing’s Lean Manufacturing award in 2021, judges commended the Raptor Combi for its “innovation and useful range of food production solutions”, highlighting the natural synergy between checkweighing and metal detection.
UNBEATABLE PRICE-PER- FORMANCE RATIO
Designed for various applications (including confectionery, bakery, meats and fish, cheeses and ready meal products), Fortress has engineered a technologically-advanced machine able to match the high-end results seen in expensive combination equipment, at a better price to performance ratio. Notably, the Raptor Combi has the ability to accurately inspect and check the weight of large size package formats weighing up to 8kg and measuring 300mm by 400mm. Inspecting up to 150 packs per minute, the Raptor checkweigher also calculates Average Finished Weight Variance to maximise productivity. Solving several issues that the combination inspection market previously failed to address, the Raptor Combi answers demands from UK-based food factories for more innovative fixings and connection features, such as interlocking infeed and outfeed panels, allowing processers to customise the machine to their production layout.
The Raptor Combi also introduces a unique tight-fitting conveyor and ‘no-tool’ maintenance concept. Overcoming the longstanding industry challenge of loosening belt tension during machine sanitation, operators can unclip and disconnect the conveyor motor and lift out the entire conveyor assembly for maintenance and cleaning in seconds.
DILIGENT DIGITALISATION As well as offering cost savings for end-users,
the Fortress machine proves the power of systematic digital data capture. For UK food processors supplying multiple retailers, the Raptor Combi introduces a failsafe and fully- auditable Code of Practice (COP) test routine to further fine-tune productivity processes. Instant HACCP and COP compliance was a key rationale for an Ireland-based bioceutical start-up Soothing Solutions installing the Raptor Combi for their new Tonstix innovation. Company founder Sinéad Crowther comments: “The Raptor Combi is very user friendly. It is the smartest piece of technology on our new production line. The screen collates all the production data we need. It ensures full weighing accuracy, extremely sensitive metal contaminant detection levels, full traceability and exceeds all of our COP compliance requirements.” Featuring a swipe touchscreen HMI and paperless audit software with unlimited pre-programmed COPs, the robust Raptor Combi captures the data required to guarantee food-brand integrity and absolute traceability. The machine automatically alerts the Quality Assurance manager each time a test is overdue and an in-built USB means Fortress Technology simply issues an upgrade as new COPs are introduced. The award-winning Raptor Combi combines affordability with a digitised and futuristic approach to inspection, making the entire system is secure, hygienic and fully engineered for optimum efficiency.
Fortress Technology
www.fortresstechnology.com
FOOD & BEVERAGE
SEALING BAR WITH BRAND NEW COMPACT I3
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PE UK Ltd has launched a versatile, class-leading new compact tray sealer aimed at ready meals, fresh produce and meat products. Building on MPE’s extensive heat-sealing experience, the MPE i3 is high throughput technology capable of running larger format trays than its main competitors, while taking up minimal factory floor space.
Tray sealers ensure speedy processing of items like soft fruit and MPE already has machinery installations in greenhouses across the UK. The small footprint design of the robust and high-speed i3 is ideal for growers, saving valuable floor space, while its simplicity offers efficient and rapid changeover between tray sizes. Belying its small stature, the i3 offers the deepest available tray sealing capacity at 200mm – also perfect for the catering trade and meat processors delivering lines such as joints and sausages.
In response to businesses crying out for sustainable packaging systems, the i3 is an all-electric machine. This means no pneumatics, bringing energy savings for the food industry and quicker payback on investment. It could also open funding streams through sustainability grants.
Future-proofed to take advantage of software upgrades to increase performance, features include a self-intuitive user interface, easy and quick tool change, advanced self-diagnostics, rogue object detection and ‘Smart spacing technology’. Pre- heating stations can reduce the already-speedy 10-minute changeover to just five minutes. Last but not least the i3’s programming constantly monitors performance and displays any issues to the user along with a solution. Developed and manufactured in the UK, the i3 can be bespoke to a customer’s requirements. MPE’s Technical Director, John Hodgkiss, believes the company’s investment in the latest addition to its extensive range of tray sealers will pay dividends for food packaging companies, by bringing a cost-saving but highly versatile alternative to the marketplace which is easy to clean, easy to maintain and easy to operate.
He says: “Why should customers choose the i3 over an alternative model? That is easy – cost, capability, simplicity and a non-corporate customer experience. Customers are very impressed with our products and we get comments on how simple and ingenious our solutions are. We often win contracts over our more established competitors because of this level of innovation and dedication to top-flight customer service at all stages of the relationship.
“The i3 took just two months to get to market from the design stage. It normally takes most companies at least a year. Our design team is very flexible and quick in bringing great ideas through to the end product. We are in a great position to provide the UK’s food processing companies of all sizes exactly what they need to stay ahead of the packaging innovation curve.”
With MAP as standard, the robust i3 is capable of 15 cycles per minute and is suitable for almost all packaging materials. This and the i4, which will be unveiled at a later date, are certainly raising the bar in heat sealing technology.
MPE UK Ltd
www.mpe-uk.com
FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS | SEPTEMBER 2022 29
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