Building on its success earlier this year at interpack, equipment and systems group Syntegon is making final preparations for exhibiting at Pack Expo in Chicago, US, writes Neill Barston.

As the company explained, it will be appearing under the banner of “re:imagine Your Factory of the Future”, with the business set to showcase its vertical packaging competencies.

Moreover, as the company noted, food manufacturers face rising costs, a shortage of skilled operators, increasingly stringent regulations, and a growing SKU variety. Syntegon has responded to these challenges through lifecycle partnership, designed to unlock the next level of efficiency, flexibility, and sustainability.

At Pack Expo International, the company will debut an integrated bag-to-case line that combines the SVX Agile vertical bagger with the Elematic 4001 gravity case packer, alongside an SVX Agile featuring new corner-seal capabilities for premium bag styles. These solutions address key requirements such as high output, format flexibility, process stability, and efficient material use. Both new systems will be demonstrated live daily at the Syntegon booth, S-3514, in the South Hall.

“The objective is simple: reduce air and increase efficiency,” says Espen Mile, Head of Product Management. “In frozen food logistics, the goal is to maximize the number of bags per case. Our gravity case packer helps customers ship more product and less air.”

To address exactly these needs, the integrated line combines bag making and case packing in one seamless process. Designed for Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) products, snacks, confectionery and bakery applications, the modular concept enables manufacturers to select a configuration that matches their factory set-up, regional logistics and market requirements.

The line combines the strengths of the two machines it consists of: The SVX Agile forms, fills and seals bags which the Elematic 4001 automatically loads into RSC shipping cases. 

As the company noted, its Elematic 4001 is engineered for high-output lines, with infeed capacities of up to 120 bags per minute and loading of up to 25 cases per minute and uses an optimizsd gravity-based drop mechanism. A multi-level, servo-controlled collation and drop station groups the bags and releases them directly into the case, supporting seamless line integration and a consistent operating concept across both machines.

Before loading, the bags pass through a rumbling station that distributes the product inside the bags. This system features horizontal case loading. A variant combining horizontal and vertical loading will be launched in early 2027.

Beyond throughput, this gravity case packer also addresses flexibility: to meet changing market demands, it enables customers to switch between various bag sizes, styles and packing patterns at the push of a button, without changing format parts. Furthermore, optimized case utilisation can help reduce transportation and packaging material costs.