Mieszko chocolates

When Mieszko S.A., one of Poland’s leading confectionery manufacturers, wished to enhance the look of its new A’Madorro chocolates, which are packed in large format boxes, it turned to Marden Edwards, which supplied a S4BX225FF individual large format chocolate box overwrapper to do the job.

The machine can wrap pack sizes between 75 x 55 x 17mm and 450 x 300 x 125mm at speeds up to 40 packs/minute, depending on carton size, without affecting the high quality look of the over-wrap, which is particularly important for luxury chocolates. The Polish company produces a range of selections in differing box sizes and one of the factors in deciding on this new overwrapper is the capability for very rapid changeovers between sizes.

Thomasz Stiebler of Mieszko commented “Our new chocolate range has a very high quality carton, which needs careful handling. Based on our previous experience with ME machines we felt confident it would work perfectly, and it has. Also it was easy to install and runs at full production capacity for long periods’.

The near hermetic seal, which gives the appearance of a gift wrap, has the additional advantage that it can extend shelf life of the product and enhance is freshness, according to Marden Edwards’ marketing director Jeremy Marden. The wrapper also incorporates a tear tape applicator to help the consumer to remove the wrap easily.

“The machine is our standard design without any special modifications. Yet it slotted into Mieszko’s production line without any problems” he said.

The latest machine joins three other overwrappers supplied by Marden Edwards which includes a high speed WR500 machine with a production rate of 75 packs/minute on a presentation box 450mm wide.

Mieszko S.A. was founded in 1993 to continue the traditions of confectionery manufacture of the Slazak and Pomorzanka companies. Today it is based at two facilities, in Warsaw and Raciborz, and employs 900 people.

All Marden Edwards base seal overwrapping machines can already wrap with paper instead of film.  The positive gripper system that transports the wrapping material through the machine is perfect for reels of paper resulting in no machine conversion work necessary.  However, for this simple conversion to happen it makes the assumption that the paper itself can be already be sealed by heat.

There are two types of self adhesive paper available, paper which contains a thin plastic coating which seals when heat is applied and paper where the a glue is pre-sprayed in the exact places where the seal needs to be made.

The plastic coated paper can be expensive and has the problem of not being able to fully bio-degrade.  The advantage is that it can be run on any existing Marden Edwards overwrapper with no conversion.  Paper where the glue has been sprayed into discrete locations is less expensive but the overwrapping machine requires the fitting of a standard print registration system to ensure that the paper and seals are accurately placed around the pack being wrapped.  The biodegradability of the glue can also be in question but recent developments by such companies as Parkside Flexibles have resulted in materials which have complete bio-degradability.

If non adhesive paper is to be used, Marden Edwards can supply one of its range of KAP Kraft paper overwrappers, which applies the glue to the paper as the machine is running.  Marden Edwards has manufactured over two hundred of this style of machine and the PVA, sugar based dextrin or hot melt glue is applied inside the machine as the materials are running through.  Typically PVA and dextrin are used for presentation quality wrapping whereas hot melt glue is used when the paper is replacing cardboard for reducing casepacking costs.    

Evo-Fold automatic overwrapping machine

A demonstration of the Evo-Fold wrapper from Marden Edwards at the PPMA Show 2008 has led to an order from Scottish confectioners Thomas Tunnock to wrap its tea cake products.

The machine is the third ME wrapper to be purchased for the company’s Uddingston, Glasgow facility, where the well-known ‘snow ball’ and caramel wafer biscuits are also manufactured.

The Evo-Fold replaces a 10 year old wrapper, also supplied by Marden Edwards. “The old machine was perfectly serviceable, but Tunnock’s wished to upgrade the machine to improve productivity,” explained ME marketing director Jeremy Marden.

He continued: “Thanks to advances in our component manufacturing technology the new machine has a higher specification than the one it replaces, yet price comparisons are very similar. The Evo is our ‘entry level’ machine these days, but can perform to levels seen previously only on more sophisticated equipment.”

The machine is wrapping display boxes of 36 teacakes and while output fluctuates according to seasonal demand the machine produced more than 40,000 packs in the month prior to Christmas deliveries, working on a double shift. Depending on pack size the Evo-Fold can wrap at up to 45 packs/minute, says Marden Edwards.

Boyd Tunnock CBE, grandson of the founder Thomas, and who runs the company today, said: “I first saw the Evo during a visit to the PPMA Show last September and was impressed by the improved specification and the price. In particular we liked the new guarding which enables total visibility during packing. We had looked at other suppliers and tested other machines, but the demonstration of the Evo at NEC convinced me this was the perfect machine for our needs.”

Products for export are shrinkwrapped prior to shipping in containers and the company has recently bought its first automatic L sealer from Wraps UK, a Marden Edwards Group company. The machine now uses the same perimeter guarding as the Evo.

When

This style of wrap provides several advantages including a wrinkle free appearance, neat seams, which can be placed out of site if required, and a hermetic seal which keeps out dust and moisture and can help prolong shelf life in many instances. As a bonus, this style of wrap can also work out to be more cost effective than an equivalent shrink wrap. This is because polypropylene film is less expensive than an equivalent thickness polyolefin, which has to have at least a 30% shrink property. The film cost per item is therefore often lower.

The Marden Edwards Group is a world leader in overwrapping systems and offers both shrink wrappers and end fold overwrappers and so is able to advise customers on the most suitable system for every application. A popular misconception is that an end fold overwrapper requires a higher capital expenditure than an automatic L sealer and tunnel. In addition, an overwrapper’s running costs are considerably lower as the absence of a shrink tunnel means power consumption is far less.

As Sales Director Mike Patey says, “since the basic trend in the retail sector these days is towards ever higher quality, in many instances this does favour the end fold overwrapper. We work with customers in the food, beverage, perfume, cosmetics and tobacco sectors amongst others and everyone is striving to provide the very best presentation on the shelves, in gift shops, in duty free outlets and department stores as well as supermarkets. In fact almost all the supermarkets now offer an upmarket own-label range of foods which feature packaging every bit as luxurious as that used by brand owners”

The importance of a high quality wrap in the quest for shelf appeal is illustrated perfectly by the case of a major tea producer which decided to eliminate the overwrap from its cartons, considering the print quality of the cartons was sufficient to attract shoppers. Unfortunately sales began to fall as the public not only found the unwrapped cartons less appealing but, since the cartons did not provide a hermetic seal on their own, a certain amount of dust was able to escape from the tea inside and settle on the printed surface, giving a dull look.

The UK’s fastest growing chocolate retailer, Hotel Chocolat, is another company that has also decided the end-fold overwrap provides the best presentation for retail applications. Hotel Chocolat has been supplying the corporate gift sector and been running a very successful, internet-based mail order operation for a number of years but last year moved into the retail sector and is now opening shops throughout the UK.

While the shrink wrap used on mail order products provides protection and a reasonable finish, two Marden Edwards B225FF overwrappers have now been installed on the lines producing the retail cartons. The style of wrap these machines produce is not only considered to provide a superior appearance but is also more tactile. As John Hadley, Operations Director at Hotel Chocolat, puts it, “When customers are actually handling the products in-store, there are no raised seams and the film is not shrunk tightly against the carton surface, which gives a better feel.

The perfume and cosmetic industry is one where end fold overwrap is prevalent and Marden Edwards has been supplying machinery to manufacturers in the industry all over the world for the past forty years. However, until recently the company had enjoyed little success with French manufacturers, who large dominate this sector.

The breakthrough came with the new TM85 and now the TM100, which is able to handle a wider range of carton sizes. Both have been specially developed to meet the exacting standards of the French producers and during the development of these units, engineers from Marden Edwards consulted existing and potential customers about their requirements as far as pack presentation is concerned as well as operational considerations. They also received feedback from the company’s agent in France and benefited from their many years of experience in providing machinery to the French perfume and cosmetics industry.

As well as wrap quality, the wide range of carton sizes used in this industry meant that simple “de-skilled”, rapid product size changes were a major concern. With the TM100 the operator not only has the total control over the quality and repeatability of the overwrap but they are also able to vary the lateral sealing position and the size of the lateral seal to suit the item being wrapped. In addition there is greater visibility of the wrapping process and changeover from one size to another is extremely fast. A number of TM85 machines have now been installed in France and orders have already been received for the TM100 from perfume and cosmetic producers.

“To most people, luxury packaging and extravagance go hand in hand” Mike Patey says, “but in many cases we are able to provide high quality wrapping systems that actually save money and help manufacturers meet their environmental concerns”.

“For example we have developed collating and wrapping systems for the tobacco industry that enable cigarette manufacturers to wrap collations of cigarette packs in a high quality, printed film for sale in duty free and other outlets. As a result they are able to produce a pack with a quality appearance and do away with the outer carton, saving both money and space in shipping containers.”

“We have also supplied an end fold overwrapper to a French producer of herbal infusions who is very concerned that any packaging they use should have a minimal effect on the environment. The fact that the machine is able to operate with a biodegradable film and is very energy efficient met the company’s environmental criteria, while at the same time providing excellent presentation”

“While the overwrapping market is relatively mature it is certainly not standing still”, Mike says. “For one thing, product and packaging designers are constantly throwing new challenges at us, which means that we have to develop our equipment all the time. Also developments in China and Eastern Europe mean that producers are upgrading their packaging as they start to export to the West, which means that we have to be able to provide machinery that suits their needs and the back up to ensure they get the best from the equipment.”

The B100FF is an extremely flexible machine used throughout the tea and coffee industries as well as in other applications where shelf appeal is paramount. It can handle a wide range of carton sizes and produce an envelope or end-fold wrap using all types of heat sealable films.

The customer in France runs a small, artisan style operation which has been using locally grown herbs to produce a range of boxed tea bags since the 1980s. The company maintains a responsible environmental policy and in keeping with this, looked at ways of making its packaging as environmentally friendly as possible, without detracting from the appearance.

This led to the choice of Biophan biodegradable film for overwrapping the cartons. Produced by Treofan, Biophan has similar aesthetic and handling characteristics to cellophane, however it is produced from corn starch and can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way along with paper. In an industrial composting plant, Biophan will break down completely to carbon dioxide and water within 45 days.

The positive film handling system used on Marden Edwards overwrappers is ideal for use with this new generation of wrapping films and the method of wrapping produces an attractive, high gas barrier overwrap. It is also more environmentally friendly than other methods of wrapping as there is no requirement to shrink the film around the pack, providing a considerable saving in energy usage.

OPP (Oriented PolyPropylene) film is derived from melting and orienting or stretching the polypropylene polymer. The raw material is an oil by-product and its simple formulation which contains no health or environmentally hazardous materials . The resultant film has excellent strength, barrier and stiffness properties making it extremely suitable for over wrapping machinery. With the introduction of some small amount of shrink property (typically 5%) polypropylene can form a skin tight finish around a product without the need for large energy requirements. OPP will not bio-degrade but will assist combustion of waste when used in an incinerator breaking down into hydrogen and carbon.

Another wrapping material which was introduced in the 1950s, PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) has reduced in significance. PVC has an excellent shrink property when used with overwrapping machines but concerns regarding unhealthy dioxins produced both in its manufacture and incineration have reduced its widespread use.

Although not widely regarded as a material for use with overwrapping machinery, PE (polyethylene) runs extremely well on Marden Edwards machinery. LDPE (low density polyethylene) is extremely strong and ductile but does not have the clarity of other film types. This makes it suitable for use in transit wrapping applications, predominantly using shrink wrapping machines. However, because of the positive way that Marden Edwards overwrapping machines guide and transport the film it can be used for overwrap. It is not biodegradable.

Film producers, to keep up with the current requirement for re-cycling and enironmentally friendly products, have returned to the cellophane tradition begun near the start of the twentieth century. For example, Treofan’s Biophan wrapping film is manufactured from PLA (polylactic acid), a polymer derived from starch. Starch is itself derived from corn, sugar cane, straw or wood which are all renewable primary products. The qualities of the film itself are similar to cellophane and will decompose rapidly in composting bins if kept at the correct composting temperature. Innovia’s new Natureflex wrapping film is also biodegradable and is itself based on cellophane. Both of these films are very suitable for use with overwrapping packaging machines and show exactly how film overwrap has come full circle.

Overwrap works by folding film around the pack and making one lateral seal and two diamond point end folds at the ends of the pack. During this process, only a small amount of heat is required to create the seals. The wrapped product is fully enclosed and the seal is of a near hermetic quality. The addition of a thin tear strip during the wrapping process also means that the multi pack is straightorward to open.

In fact, for its new “Coco Pop Creations” product, Kelloggs decided not to use an inner film bag to contain the product inside the carton but instead rely upon the external overwrap to prevent the ingress of moisture into the product.

This compares well to shrink wrapping, where excess film often needs to be trimmed off during the wrapping process and perforation holes in the film mean that the wrap is not a barrier to bacteria or moisture. In addition, shrink wrap uses large amounts of heat to shrink the expensive polyolefin film around the pack, often distorting the appearance of the wrapped collation.

In many cases the overwrap film is printed and registered around the pack during the wrapping process. Printing the film has many marketing advantages and is especially useful for describing the contents of a retail multi pack. The film can be printed in such a way that the individual pack bar codes are obscured and that the only one visible is part of the print layout or is printed on-line. This is typified by the packaging film used for both the Kellogs Variety Packs, Nestle Pic-A-Pacs and the Dorset Cereals multi muesli pack.

To further enhance the environmental credibility of this type of wrapping it is now possible to use one of the new, plant based biodegradable films, such as Natureflex from Innovia. Natureflex is in fact a type of cellophane, manufactured from wood pulp. Using wood pulp to manufacture films has two benefits. Not only will it bio-degrade in landfill sites but the raw material comes from sustainable sources which cannot be used for growing food crops.

The most straightforward application is for the wrapping of the individual pad. Typically with a pack length of up to 5” and width 3”, speeds up to 225 packs per minute can be achieved with a trailing edge seal and the use of printed film. What makes the WR200 machine ideal for this application is its ability to cope with under and over height pads, as much as +/- 1mm, and still achieve a high quality wrap. Product feeding can either be by hand or directly from the preceding cutting system.

Once the individual pad has been overwrapped, a Marden Edwards system can automatically collate and overwrap the bundle, in assorted pack orientations. For extra versatility and high speed, the collator can be external to the overwrapping machine. For example, to produce a stack of 6 high memo pads, a stacking speed of 225 per minute would be required if carried out internally within the machine. Using an external collator, up to 10 collations can be produced simultaneously and then the completed collation is fed into the overwrapper. Extra machine modules can be easily integrated to insert top sheets or even promotional pads on top of the collation before overwrapping.

For the multi coloured and small memo pads Marden Edwards has developed hopper and automatic feeding systems enabling the different colours to be matched and collated. Individual pad sizes as small as 1.5” by 1.5” can be collated and wrapped, producing small triple packs or large 36 pad bulk packs.

Whether the memo pad collation is wrapped or unwrapped, already collated or a single pack, automatically or manually fed, high or low speed, Marden Edwards has an overwrapping solution that’s already tried and tested in many countries around the world. From the USA, through Europe to the Far East Marden Edwards have many installations dedicated to memo pad overwrapping.

The TM100 is ideal for all applications where shelf presentation is paramount; it produces an extremely tight, wrinkle free wrap with crisp end folds and a lateral seal position which is positioned on the trailing edge.

Jeremy Marden of Marden Edwards says manufacturers wrapping cartons holding all types of toiletries and cosmetics as well as gift items, high quality confectionery, presentation packs of tea and other types of foods and beverages can all benefit from the excellent appearance provided by the TM100.

The machine has been under development for some time and engineers from Marden Edwards consulted existing and potential customers about their requirements as far as pack presentation is concerned as well as operational considerations. They also received feed back from the company’s agent in France and benefited from their many years of experience in providing machinery to the French cosmetics and toiletries industries.

As well as wrap quality, simple “de-skilled”, rapid product size changes were a major concern and the machine Marden Edwards has designed not only meets but surpasses these requirements. The TM100 enhances the ability of the customer to fully control the quality and repeatability of the overwrap, to vary sealing the lateral sealing position and the size of the lateral seal, to have great visibility of the wrapping process and to rapidly change over from one size to another.

The machine is also “protected” from damaging itself and the product in the event of an incorrectly loaded product by a series of electronic and mechanical overload systems. The pack itself is always handled as gently as possible via the extensive use of special low friction fabric for all pack contact parts.

The machine combines the latest servo technology coupled with traditional mechanical design. This means that all the motions that do not alter when the product is changed from one size to another are connected with cams and levers. The film draw and the pack transfer are driven by servo motor meaning that the film cut length is automatically set by the machine controller and the infeed pusher automatically optimises its position and stroke depending on the size of the pack.

Standard options for the machine include a film slitter and powered rewind unit allowing one film width to be stocked for many different sizes, a tear tape unit to add an easy open tab to assist unwrapping and a print registration system enabling the use of printed film.