Top grower, Humber VHB has met seasonal demand by hiring high-specification, automatic packaging equipment from Packaging Automatic Ltd (PA) once again. The company has upgraded from hiring a semi-automatic PA182 tray sealer to fully automatic Vision 182 system in order to help control cost and reduce product waste.

The Vision 182 is a compact in-line, automatic machine for heat-sealing, reel-fed film lids to preformed trays and containers. With the aid of this new machine, Humber VHB is now achieving throughput of more than 30 packs per minute. The company produces two different pack weight punnets - 200g and 450g - of tomatoes for leading UK supermarkets. The Vision 182 packs the tomatoes into clear, pre-formed plastic trays and applies a clear plastic film to which standard, printed self-adhesive labels are applied.

The company is now achieving less downtime and significant labour savings - last year the tomato line at Humber VHB was operated by up to three people and now a single operator manages the complete line.

“The decision to hire equipment again from PA was easy because we had such good performance from the PA182 and excellent support from PA the year before,” said Paul Underwood, engineering manager at Humber VHB. “They make it easy for us in terms of continuity as we only need to deal with a dedicated person and we hope we will be able to progress to buying equipment from PA.”

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