Theegarten-Pactec to unveil flow wrapping advances at ProSweets 2024
Theegarten-Pactec's stand at this year's Interpack. Pic: Neill Barston
Advanced machinery for the confectionery sector from Theegarten-Pactec will be on show at the fast-approaching ProSweets event in Cologne, Germany, including its latest FPH5 flow wrapping line, designed for sugar coated gum, hard caramels and chocolate, writes Neill Barston.
For the next edition of the show, taking place between 28-31 January 2024, the Dresden-based business is exhibiting at stand G020 H029 in Hall 10.1, the business will be showcasing its present range of packaging systems for the industry, alongside its Turkish-based partner company, Makrev, which it acquired shares in last year, which further bolstered the company’s equipment offering. See our recent exclusive video interview review of Gulfood Manufacturing, featuring the firm’s president and CEO, Markus Rustler, here.
The major global showcase has returned to its January positioning, after a one-off Spring presentation alongside sister show, ISM, which took place this April, which saw the two events combine in a more compact format in response to major industry supply chain challenges.
Among the highlights for the 2024 edition, Theegarten will be demonstrating its FPH5 (below), which is reportedly capable of packaging gum at a speed of 4,000 products/min. As the business revealed, its results are achieved through a combination of a large feed plate and a separately driven inner plate is used to ensure a high degree of filling. There is a direct mechanical connection between the machine’s plates and infeed chain ensures a seamless transfer of the products from the plate to the infeed chain, which greatly contributes to a reliable, fast packaging process.
Another advantage of the FPH5 is its flexibility. Depending on the customer’s requirements, it can be used to allocate 2, 3 or 4 products per pack. Moreover, the changeover between the individual pack sizes can be implemented extremely quickly. All this is made possible by the simple interchangeability of the infeed chain, which is responsible for product grouping. At ProSweets, Theegarten-Pactec will be demonstrating the process with 2-piece packs. The FPH5’s cross-sealing unit is just as flexible. It doesn’t need to be changed when the pack size is changed, as it is driven by a separate servo motor, and the speed of the cross-sealing unit is stored in the recipe management system.
Furthermore, according to the company, the FPH5 is just as flexible when it comes to processing the material as it is in the packaging process itself. This is thanks to a patented preheating section, it is capable of processing even advanced, recyclable monofilms just as efficiently as conventional laminates or paper-based packaging materials – at the same high packaging speed. Thanks to its extraordinary versatility and efficiency, the FPH5 can be used to package a wide range of products in addition to classic hard caramels, including very soft, sensitive jelly products, chocolate-coated confectionery and lollipops.
Additional showcase
Other highlights include the MR7800 Multistyle from its partner Makrev, which will be presented at the stand, packs chocolate products at a speed of up to 400 products/minute. This makes it especially suitable for customers who need solutions in the medium performance range. The line is said to excel with its high flexibility: It can handle many different types of packaging, such as side twist, top twist, double twist wrap, bunch and envelope fold. Furthermore, quick format changes and changes in the type of packaging can be achieved on the machine in only 30 minutes, which reduces set-up times and effectively saves costs.
For its part, Makrev manufactures discontinuously operating chocolate, hard candy and jelly packaging machines as well as complete automation and feeding systems in the medium output range – ideally complementing Theegarten-Pactec’s product portfolio.
As in 2022, visitors to the exhibition stand in 2024 will again be able to explore the benefits of the Sweet Connect digitalisation platform in a specially designated area. Theegarten-Pactec founded this platform together with its partners Sollich, Chocotech and Winkler + Dünnebier. The platform, which was specially developed for the confectionery industry, bundles the partners’ resources and offers their customers an opportunity to digitally map the entire production process. For example, it enables the uniform monitoring and management of all machines involved in the production process – regardless of the manufacturer – and is also used to monitor and control the entire confectionery production as well as maintenance, repair, optimisation and planning. See www.sweetconnect.io for more details.
