Interpack 2014 - Bosch Presents Innovations to Meet Food Safety Regulations

With consumers and manufacturers placing an increased emphasis on food safety, Bosch Packaging Technology will launch several technological advancements at Interpack 2014 designed to meet global hygiene standards.

Complementing its comprehensive portfolio, the company is debuting an integrated solution for hygienic powder packaging. The FVS auger filler and SVC 2620, a vertical bagger, are both designed for enhanced cleanability, versatility and ease of use.

Bosch will also introduce its high-speed Sigpack RN vertical sachet machine for liquid applications distinguished by its cleaning function to ensure thorough sanitation of product-contact parts. Interpack will also serve as the European debut of the inverted horizontal flow wrapper Pack 301 ID.

Developed for the packaging of soft, sticky, flexible or difficult-to-handle products, the inverted horizontal flow wrapper transports the packaging film from below, while the product is fed directly from the feeding system onto the film.

To protect freshness and extend product shelf-life, it features long-dwell cross sealing technology. Finally, Bosch will highlight its tailor-made after-sales services for enhanced hygiene and optimized overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

“Food safety has never been a more critical concern for manufacturers,” says Martin Tanner, director marketing and business development, product division confectionery and food, Bosch Packaging Technology. “We design all of our machines to meet application-specific hygiene requirements, while enabling our customers to achieve their production goals.”

New vertical bagger platform with integrated auger filler in hygienic execution for fast cleaning and product changeovers

Bosch’s new SVC 2620 presented at Interpack, is the latest addition to its new SVC platform, which has been designed with simplicity, versatility and cleanability in mind. The SVC platform was first introduced at FachPack and PACK EXPO 2013 and is available in different hygienic levels ranging from wet wipe down to pressurized wash down. Focusing on hygienic design, the machines of the SVC series help manufacturers meet the requirements of diverse food handling regulations across the globe.

The new SVC 2620 will be presented with the latest generation of FVS auger filler in hygienic execution, featuring several enhancements for expedited cleaning. Both the SVC machine and the FVS auger filler allow for easy accessibility to all product-contact parts, enabling quick product changeovers. This significantly reduces the risk of cross contamination, which is important for products such as milk powder, infant nutrition, gluten and gluten-free flour and other powdery substances.

With its stainless steel construction, completely welded seams, the FVS facilitates wet wipe-down cleaning. A swivel-mounted draining channel allows for tool-less opening of the cover, while the easy-to-remove gas pipes are anchored onto the back wall to prevent product contamination. Thanks to an integrated dropping channel and cross-feed auger, producers can count on the well-known precision and product protection of the FVS series. It also features a product level scale for reproducible adjustments of minimum and maximum fill level, which ensures smooth and accurate product flow.

Additionally, the SVC platform is now available with ultrasonic sealing technology, which can be applied to all Bosch vertical baggers. In particular, the SVC 4020 will be displayed with this sealing method, which is ideal for products whose quality would be affected by contamination of the sealing seams and leakage. This includes fresh and frozen food like salad, frozen spinach and shredded cheese. By using high frequency vibrations product residues are removed from the sealing area ensuring package integrity and increased OEE. In addition, manufacturers benefit from lower material consumption due to reduced sealing width compared to hot sealing. Hot-tacking effects are minimized because the friction generated between the two film layers creates the sealing temperature precisely on the area where needed. Therefore, ultrasonic sealing technology is also ideal for thermo-sensitive products such as chocolate.

Hygienic liquid sachet packaging with high efficiency
Bosch will also introduce its new liquid dosing capabilities for its Sigpack RN vertical sachet machine for packaging four-side-seal sachets for the food, pharmaceutical, healthcare and cosmetics industries. It is designed to handle a wide range of packaging materials, ensuring hermetic sealing with high efficiency. Capable of producing 1,000 packs per minute with high filling accuracy on up to eight lanes, the machine occupies a smaller footprint and reduces maintenance.

To enhance cleanability in all applicable markets, Bosch applied its knowledge from the pharmaceutical sector. The standard machine features the clean-out-of-place (COP) function, with its machine parts designed for easy disassembly and cleaning. An optional clean-in-place (CIP) function allows for automatic and simplified wash down without machine disassembly. Both functions ensure thorough sanitation of product-contact parts.

Inverted dwell horizontal flow wrapper for hermetic seals
Making its first European appearance, the Pack 301 ID horizontal flow wrapper is ideal for packaging difficult-to-handle products that require hermetic sealing for a broad format range. These include products needing MAP (modified atmosphere packaging), like fresh food, meat and cheese, coffee, as well as those packaged in thicker film, such as most medical goods. Its inverted film transport makes it ideal for handling soft, flexible products and multipacks. The machine also allows for flexible layout configuration.

The Pack 301 ID combines two proven technologies - the inverted machine design and long-dwell cross sealing - in one machine to provide gentle, secure packaging and air-tight seals. The long-dwell system allows for sealing times of up to one second, enabling high pack integrity to protect freshness and extend product shelf life. To ensure air-tight packages during ramp up and down periods, the Pack 301 ID features a constant seal time independent of the machine’s speed. Additionally, the temperature on the top and bottom sealing jaws can be independently controlled to enable high seal quality with thicker films.

To maximize uptime and simplify maintenance, the Pack 301 ID has been designed based on the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) principle. The hygienic and open design facilitates fast cleaning and easy operation. The machine automatically detects products located between the cross-seal jaws and makes sure that these packages remain unsealed and are rejected. This functionality prevents jams and avoids product residues on the sealing jaws, ensuring high sealing quality.

Tailor-made service portfolio for users requirements
At Interpack, Bosch will also highlight its comprehensive after-sales services portfolio. Machine upgrades and modernizations, for instance, enable customers to flexibly adapt their existing equipment to meet the requirements for maximum hygiene and product safety. During live presentations at the booth, the audience will be given an opportunity to take part in the “OEE Challenge” - a contest that tests participants’ speed, feeding accuracy and productivity on a completely overhauled horizontal wrapper. Customers can also find out how training sessions enhance efficient machinery handling. Moreover, Bosch will demonstrate how tailor-made service packages support customers in improving their productivity with minimum machine downtime, ultimately resulting in higher profitability of their Bosch packaging machines.

Bosch’s solutions will be on display at Interpack 2014, Duesseldorf, Germany from May 8 to 14 in hall 6, booth A31 - C58.