A tray sealer and integrated conveyor from Proseal provides HP2 with greater throughput and production line space for packing, allowing it to meet increased demand from its customers.
Spalding-based HP2 – short for Hawthorn Produce, Packaging and Handling – required a high-speed tray sealing machine to meet growing customer demand for top-sealed packs of grapes. The machine had to be capable of sealing 120 packs per minute and to meet these needs, HP2 chose the Proseal GT2s tray sealer with an integrated flat-belt SC conveyor, making a total line length of around 10m.
Nick Bossley, managing director at HP2, commented: “As ever, Proseal’s service was second-to-none. Installation was completed on the day of delivery – including control links to existing end-of-line equipment to enable staggered controlled stoppages – and production was able to commence on the second day. The GT2s and integrated conveyor have been fantastic for us in terms of extra throughput and added stability, and have truly helped us deliver for our customers’ needs.”
The large-capacity Proseal GT2s tray sealer has met HP2’s needs for speed with an average throughput of 127 packs per minute, thus enabling the company to meet customer demands and even take on extra orders.
The integrated infeed conveyor ensures that there is maximum space for product loading so HP2 operators can keep up with the demands of the line. Crucially, the conveyor is controlled and managed from the Proseal machine’s user-friendly interface, meaning there is no need for the addition of a conveyor cubicle, which creates space for additional operations.
Equally as important, the single and secure point of control ensures that the infeed conveyor mirrors the speeds of the tray sealer and ensure instant reactions to any changes in run conditions. This, combined with Proseal’s ProMotion system, which uses following motion and intelligent buffering technology to enable trays to feed continuously into the sealer, deliver optimum efficiency and minimal stoppage downtime for HP2.
Tony Burgess, head of sales and control systems at Proseal, concluded: “HP2 and Nick are loyal customers, so we were delighted to supply them with a machine that is now actually exceeding their throughput requirements, as well as allowing the necessary space for the onward packing of the punnets. Over the years, Proseal and HP2 have each played a part in the other’s success and growth, and we very much hope to see our excellent relationship continue.”
