Bosch Packaging Technology will introduce its scalable cookie and cracker packaging systems at Interpack 2017.
These flexible packaging solutions provide gentle handling of delicate products in slug and pile packs and offer vibratory distribution and automatic feeding for sweet and savoury biscuits, according to the company.
Andreas Schildknecht, product manager for horizontal packaging systems at Bosch, said the industry had shown an increased demand for flow-wrapped cookies and crackers, both on edge and on pile.
"Bosch has designed solutions that enable small to large producers to get and stay ahead of the competition,” she said.
“The modular design of these solutions allows for layout flexibility and scalability, enabling manufacturers to expand their production capacity easily or increase the level of automation – from entry level, hand-fed machines through to fully automated solutions.”
Pile packs offer gentle product handling
Bosch's solution for pile pack applications offers manufacturers increased product protection and the ability to adjust the level of automation to match current and future needs.
The system has a vibratory infeed, an innovative magazine feeder, a new horizontal flow wrapper, and a new integrated topload cartoner.
The Smart Pile Loader (SPL) is developed for gentle product handling from feeding through to collation, achieving enhanced product protection, full product control as well as a continuous product flow.
This results in minimised breakage and enables higher production speeds.
Due to its ability to automatically and dynamically extract a variable number of biscuits from each magazine, the feeder compensates when the product supply from the oven to the packaging system varies.
By extracting missing biscuits from one of the other lanes to build a complete stack, this feature supports automatic lane balancing.
In addition, manufacturers can select the desired stack height independently from the number of incoming magazines.
This allows for easy changes to package configurations, for example to run special promotions.
A flexible slug system
Coming from the vibratory infeed, the Smart Measuring Loader portions the biscuits and places them into trays, then the Smart Slug Feeder places the trays into the infeed of the horizontal wrapper Pack 301 LS.
For secondary packaging, Bosch shows the Kliklok SFR endload cartoner with TRAC-i infeed and the new Elematic 1001 SL case packer.
This system starts with a vibratory transport system that assures a continuous product flow at minimal back-up pressure.
Depending on the requirements, the measured amount is directly placed in the chain or in the tray.
This makes it easy to produce two different pack styles on the subsequent flow wrapping machine.
From the wrapper, the biscuits are delivered by the collating and loading unit into the infeed chain of the endload cartoner.
Depending on the required type, orientation and the collation of products, the cartoner can be equipped with several infeed options.
Further advantages of the cartoner are: a 25 per cent smaller footprint, a patented rotary carton feeder, picking and erecting cartons in the direction of flow.
This allows the use of carton board with a higher recycling content, delivering end-users tangible savings in material costs.
Bosch Packaging Technology is represented in Australia by Nupac.
