Heat sealer of pretzels to the stars

Pretzel manufacturer Union Snack has installed a Packaging Automation Vision 182 heat sealer to keep up with increased demand for its seasonal lines of star-shaped pretzel packs, a top seller at Christmas.

Growing demand led Union Snack, based in Stanley, County Durham, to move from hired semi-automatic hand operated PA182 machines, to the purchase of a compact, automatic Vision 182.

The capacity of the machine means the company is now looking to develop new lines throughout the year, as well as cope with the build up to Christmas when demand for the pretzel snacks are at their height and the machine is running at full speed.

Chief engineer Alan King, who joined Union Snack last year, says: “Last year throughput increased significantly, and the decision was made to purchase a higher spec machine to handle it.”

The Vision 182 is equipped with a programmable logic controller and an easy-to-use touch screen. It is also menu driven, which adds to its ease of use. The machine is suitable for plain or printed reel fed film.

At Union Snack it is being used to seal the star-shaped tray packs supplied to leading retailers as Christmas lines. King says: “As we do a lot of short runs, the design of the tools, and the speed of tool changes are important to us.

“With the Vision 182, tool changes are quick and easy.”

Packaging Automation technical sales engineer John Dumbell says the machine is perfect for any business that is moving into automation for the first time.

Contact: Packaging Automation, Tel: 01565 755000