Harpak-Ulma, a packaging solutions provider, has announced that Ulma’s FR500, an end-to-end automated solution designed to package food bars into a three-sided sealed package, is now available in North America.
The solution can reportedly package at up to 1,000PPM and is designed to integrate row distribution, flow wrapping, case packing and palletising.
The company suggests that the FR500, by integrating these processes, saves customers from buying three or four separate solutions, saving time, cutting costs and reducing risk.
Moreover, it bypasses the issue of having to synchronise varying parts of the automation process, according to Harpak-Ulma. The solutions provider has suggested that both expense and production issues are compounded by using solutions from several vendors, which likewise delay production with individualised testing and component integration.
“The Ulma FR500 is a high-speed, compact end-to-end solution that takes less time for start-up and occupies less space in the customer’s facilities,” said Hugh Crouch, Harpak-Ulma’s flowwrap product manager.
“The all-too-common approach – to concoct an automated solution using equipment from multiple vendors – can’t achieve the simplicity, speed, time to market, and reliability offered by a fully automatic, pre-integrated single-sourced solution.
“Like all Harpak-Ulma packaging platforms, the FR500 is a smart, connected machine capable of leveraging our advanced Augmented Reality capabilities, including remote support, visual work instructions, and even remote OEE monitoring.
“As a result, the FR500 is one of the most advanced solutions in its class.”
Some of the solution’s features are a material handling module, a high-speed horizontal flow wrapper and a bar top-loader cell for cartoning, with reported optional RSC shipper case packing and palletising.
