Proseal’s CP3 automatic case packing system has helped leading berry specialist Angus Soft Fruits to extend its capabilities, and has now handled over eight million trays since it started operation a little over a year ago.
[Proseal, via JBT Corporation, will be exhibiting at AUSPACK 2022 on stand B177]
The CP3 installed in Proseal’s initial prototype model was developed at the specific request of Ionut Tirziu, engineering and maintenance manager at Angus Soft Fruits, who had been unable to find a suitable case packing solution to meet the growing business’ requirements.
“As a longstanding customer of Proseal, I know the company’s outstanding engineering capabilities, and I was able to convince them to turn their skills to create a case packing system that would be able to handle trays efficiently and at high speeds,” explained Tirziu.
“The excellent performance and reliability of this original model shows that my faith was justified.”
As well as the original machine, Angus Soft Fruits has installed a second Proseal CP3, alongside its existing nine Proseal GT2 and one Proseal GT6eX-Twin tray sealing machines.
“Angus Soft Fruits is leading the market with innovation and efficiencies, which is incredibly important in producing and packing berries,” said Tirziu.
“Continual packing innovation is essential to deliver the best quality fruit and efficiently pack to extend shelf life.”
The development of the Proseal CP3 in conjunction with Angus Soft Fruits ideally demonstrates the strong working partnership that exists between the two companies. The same partnership led to Proseal’s development of its fastest GT6 tray sealing machine, which is capable of sealing around 150 packs per minute.
In addition, Angus Soft Fruits was closely involved in the development of Proseal’s ProVision monitoring system, which helps to maximise line performance and efficiency.
The range of equipment at Angus Soft Profits’ Salford Priors’ packing house also underlines Proseal’s ability to devise a completely primary and transit packing solution for the soft fruit industry.
“We fully understand the many challenges involved in soft fruit packing, particularly its seasonality,” said Tony Burgess, sales director at Proseal.
“And therefore, the need to maximise throughput, minimise waste, and ensure a streamlined operation that gets produce from the field to the retail shelf in the shortest possible time. All our new equipment development work is focused on these requirements.”
For Angus Soft Fruits, the CP3 case packing systems are able to handle the high speeds of the Proseal tray sealing machines. It uses the company’s proven ProMotion tray infeed system to control the flow of trays, and enables them to feed continuously into the machine without stopping, filling cases at up to 120 packs per minute.
The CP3 can handle a wide variety of pack formats, including the trays and pots in materials such as A-PET, C-PET and board. The machine also offers Proseal’s renowned high levels of construction and durability.
The introduction of Proseal ProVision meanwhile has enabled Angus Soft Fruits to further improve line performance through the capture and analysing of valuable machine data.
This allows the company to identify any line inefficiencies and pinpoint factors that may affect productivity, in terms of both personnel and operating procedures, meaning remedial action can be quickly taken.
“Both ProVision and the CP3 have had the same major impact on our operations as when we installed our first Proseal tray sealing machines back in 2008,” Tirziu said.
“Proseal is very open-minded and customer-oriented, and that is why we like to work with them.
“They are good listeners and take the time to understand our challenges and requirements, and then have the skills and innovation to develop an appropriate solution, which exceeds our expectations.
Proseal is part of the JBT Corporation family, a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food processing industry, committed to providing a service that surpasses customer expectations.
