G’s Growers orders seven Alpha flow wrappers
G’s Growers reported that two Fuji Alpha VII flow-wrappers supplied by Paramount Packaging, the exclusive distributor of Fuji Machinery Company’s horizontal and vertical form-fill-seal equipment in the UK and Ireland, early last year has helped increase production efficiencies by up to 25%. The seven new units will also be adapted for reliable, high-speed operation on mobile field harvesting rigs.
G’s Growers is an independent producer organisation comprising more than 20 grower members in the UK and Spain. By working together G’s Growers members are able to share expertise, experience and knowledge to allow them to take advantage of economies of scale to ensure the efficient supply and year-round availability of quality produce for its customers and consumers across the UK, Europe and North America.
The bespoke Fuji flow-wrappers, which will be used to pack celery, will be mounted on robust stainless steel support frames to ensure stability and rigidity when installing on G’s Growers’ harvesting rigs. This allows the machines to be easily repositioned when the sides of the rig are folded up for transportation between fields and from the UK to Spain. They also feature integrated inkjet coders and labelling systems.
Specially developed for wet environments, the Fuji flow-wrappers feature an ultra-hygienic design to help prevent dust and dirt accumulation and offers easy access to the mechanical and electrical components. The design incorporates water drainage channels from the infeed.
Operating up to 120 packs per minute (ppm), the machines boast a low maintenance box motion sealing system and convenient ‘plug and play’ two-part infeed which allows it to be used with different types of the rig and across a variety of applications. Offering fast changeover, the settings can also be stored on the front facing USB port and transferred to different machines for added flexibility.
A 12” colour touch screen and multilingual operator interface can be customised using images, words and illustrations for simplicity and fast and accurate diagnostics, and enables easy operation by foreign workers. The USB port facilitates machine back up and allows product data to be uploaded easily.
The innovative Fuji Vision System (FVS) is integrated into the film drive roller housing and helps ensure product integrity by checking film print, image and joints, label application and print legibility.