Ishida showcases high-performance packaging solutions at Interpack to meet market challenges
Over the last three to four years the food industry has faced many challenges, with businesses having to deal with the high price of raw materials and energy as well as the costs and shortages of skilled labour. At the same time, sustainability has become a key factor in many purchasing decisions, both for customers and end-consumers.
The need for automated solutions that can deliver operational efficiency, maximise production yields, minimise waste, and ensure product quality and food safety to protect and enhance brand reputation, has therefore never been greater.
The comprehensive range of equipment from packaging line specialist Ishida, which can help companies navigate the many challenges will be showcased on the Ishida Europe stand at Interpack 2023 in Düsseldorf this May.
“Ishida’s team of packaging industry experts have been working closely with many customers across the world to ensure that together we can overcome challenges and make our automation solutions the foundation of lasting competitive advantage,” said Steve Jones, Marketing Director of Ishida Europe. “Our international team will be at Interpack to discuss projects with visitors and provide solutions that are both flexible enough to overcome today’s challenges while ensuring businesses have a robust plan which considers the future.”
New Products Launching at Interpack 2023
The event will mark the 130th year anniversary of Ishida and to mark the occasion, Ishida will be showing no fewer than 40 models from its extensive product portfolio, focusing on four areas of expertise: weighing technology, quality control solutions and “end to end” packing line solutions to meet the specific needs of the fresh food and snack food sectors.
Each of the four areas of the stand will also feature a brand-new Ishida development – the new CCW-AS multihead weigher, IX-PD X-ray inspection system, QX500 tray sealer, and a first look at the company’s new complete snacks packing line solution.
The introduction of the Ishida CCW-AS, the company’s 11th generation of multihead weighers, also marks 50 years since Ishida invented the technology. The new weigher has been specifically designed to offer the best weighing performance to further increase Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE), particularly for more challenging applications, while at the same time delivering significant energy reductions.
The Ishida IX-PD top of the range X-ray inspection system incorporates new sensor and image processing technology to achieve the highest level of detection sensitivity. It can identify both low-density and very small size foreign bodies, including bones in fish fillets and steel wires, with excellent accuracy while enabling manufacturers to maintain high productivity rates.
The QX500 breaks new ground in terms of both its performance and environmental benefits, having been developed following detailed feedback from Ishida’s global customers and partners. This has resulted in the design of a compact tray sealer that can fit easily into new and existing packing lines. It combines excellent seal quality and high throughput, with a 66% increase in cycle speed, a 44% reduction in weight, a 46% reduction in size and a 50% reduction in energy usage compared with previous tray sealer technology platforms.
A complete snacks packing line for pillow packs comprises an Ishida 14-head multihead weigher and Inspira rotary bagmaker, together with a new TSC-AS seal tester and new ACP Automatic Case Packer. The fully integrated snack food solution delivers maximum efficiency, reliability and flexibility, offering close-to-zero giveaway, close-to-zero film waste and greater than 99% OEE. The system can handle up to 200 bags per minute for extruded snacks and up to 150 bags per minute for potato chips.
Digitisation is a key theme at Interpack and as well as highlighting individual machines, the Ishida stand will showcase the benefits of integrated solutions, where machines work in conjunction with each other to further increase productivity and efficiency. Ishida will also demonstrate its market-leading “Sentinel” Industry 4.0 software that combines machine performance monitoring with comprehensive data capture and in-depth analysis. This allows preventative maintenance and effective planning of servicing and engineer visits to minimise downtime and enables areas for improvement to be quickly identified and implemented to further improve OEE levels.
In addition, the stand will feature a demonstration of Ishida’s Augmented Reality technology, which during the pandemic helped the company to service customer machines without needing to travel. Using google lens technology, Ishida engineers can guide customers remotely to help them troubleshoot and maintain optimum performance.
“The Ishida team will be showcasing a wealth of packaging automation solutions on our new look sustainable stand at Interpack,” said Steve Jones. “We look forward to unveiling the latest developments in innovative engineering and to welcome existing and new customers from across the globe.”