Product category:
Packaging, Conveyors and Materials Transfer
News Release from: Packaging Automation | Subject: New England Seafood
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 July 2007
Flexible MAP packing to meet customer
demands
System flexibility, fast installation and continued rapid response support have allowed a leading fish producer to react to high pressure market demands for modified atmosphere packed products
New England Seafood International provides 10 different types of premium wild and farmed exotic fish, ranging from salmon to snapper and mahi mahi, packed in sealed 200g-500g trays for major UK supermarkets Now the company is supported by a PA182MAP-F tray sealing machine from Packaging Automation on its lower volume production lines
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 29 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Much of the product is despatched in steak form but New England also adds value by packing fish with crumbed toppings, or in sauces and butter.
All products are thoroughly monitored by New England Seafood to ensure maximum freshness and safety.
The performance of the Packaging Automation equipment is also a vital element in the New England conformance to their obligations as an EFSIS higher level award-holder and for its MSC Chain of Custody compliance.
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The PA182 semiautomatic twin station rotary tray sealer machine enables tool changes in just two minutes and it can seal and trim film from a reel onto various materials, including CPET, polypropylene, PVC, foil and board.
Its efficiency, flexibility and capacity to carry out atmospheric and modified atmospheric packaging are well proven in the seafood industry.
And it combines ease of use and if required, the portability to be moved from one line to another with a hygienic, easy to clean design, where bug traps are eliminated.
Importing over 40 tonnes of fresh fish per week, New England identified the need for a lower-volume tray sealing system to complement its high volume production lines and to provide additional flexibility.
Operations director at the New England Seafood Chessington, Surrey plant, Steve Elkins, said: "We specified the Packaging Automation equipment to increase efficiency for small production runs".
When New England had to react to an urgent customer demand for a 100 per cent increase in throughput for one product, PA enabled the company to fully meet client expectations by delivering a new tool for the order in just two weeks.
With the PA182, New England is using a gas mix which, as Steve Elkins described, provides the optimum atmosphere to maintain the fish freshness and organoleptic qualities (aroma and flavour), without taint.
Steve Elkins commented: "We are achieving a throughput of 15 packs per minute with, on average, three product changes a day.
However, because we are dealing with wild fish, and the supply fluctuates, we can change products as much as 10 times a day - the flexibility of the PA machine is excellent.
It is such a good machine that it handles those changes comfortably and it is easy to maintain and operate".
Mr Elkins also highly rates the PA ability to support his objectives: "I have worked with PA in the past and they continue to support the business direction and give added value to me as a customer.
PA are a good company that deliver on their customer service values".
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