Theegarten-Pactec is presenting a further development of its proven, modular high-performance packaging machine FPC5 for the packaging of chocolate products. This machine makes it possible to process paper-based flow packs using the heat-sealing process in the high-performance range of 90 m/min.

"Sustainable Packaging" is currently the buzzword in the packaging industry. Not without reason. For example, a recent representative online survey conducted by management consultants Simon, Kucher & Partners in March 2021 ("Sustainable Product Packaging", Simon, Kucher & Partners, March 2021) revealed that for almost three quarters of the consumers surveyed, sustainable packaging is a very important issue. Paper was rated by consumers as a particularly sustainable material, 70 percent of them seeing it as an alternative to conventional materials. Not only does this increase the pressure on brand manufacturers to offer appropriate solutions, but the packaging industry also has to step up to the plate. It must respond to the wishes of consumers, retailers and, not least, to the requirements of legislators with resource-saving materials and processes and use sustainable packaging wherever possible. This is a trend that is naturally also being taken up by the manufacturers of packaging machines.

Theegarten-Pactec, the Dresden-based packaging specialist for small confectionery, has long been aware of this trend towards sustainability and has, for example, developed material-saving wrapping methods and optimised its machines for processing particularly thin films. Now Theegarten-Pactec goes one step further: the FPC5 – a modular high-performance packaging machine for bars in flow packs - has been refined so that it can now process paper-based packaging materials: on the one hand by the common cold sealing process, on the other, by the far more complex heat-sealing process.

Theegarten-Pactec has developed the ideal solution for heat sealing paper-based packaging – in the high-performance range. Where speeds of 80 to 120 m/min are otherwise possible for conventional films in this range, an impressive 90 m/min is achieved for the paper-based packaging material on the FPC5. This corresponds to 600 sizeable 40g chocolate bars per minute.

Thanks to this solution, the machine can now produce a flow pack package made of barrier paper with integrated heat-sealing capability and a pure paper content of at least 95 percent. Due to the low proportions of sealing material and barrier layer against grease penetration, moisture or other environmental influences, the packaging produced can be fully recycled in the paper waste stream and reused for new applications.

Specifically, optimal processing of paper-based packaging on the FPC5 is achieved by precisely preheating the longitudinal sealing and cross-sealing areas of the paper. For this purpose, the sealing area is already preheated during the unwinding process. Thanks to a technically sophisticated pre-drawing section, the paper does not deform during this step. In this way, the paper reaches a higher initial temperature in selected places before the chocolate bars are packaged and heat-sealed. This appreciably reduces the amount of time for which heat must therefore be applied to the paper via the sealing tools during the actual sealing process to achieve the optimum sealing temperature. Thanks to this shortened sealing time, the high speed of 90 m/min can be achieved. In order to protect the sensitive packaging material, Theegarten-Pactec has also proactively adapted the sealing profile or the sealing jaws to the paper material to achieve a perfect match. Adjustable heating temperatures allow the process to be optimally adapted both to the requirements of the packaging material and the characteristics of the product to be packaged. This prevents damage to the packaging material and product and ensures that both are processed with particular sensitivity by the machine.

And the special nature of the sustainable packaging material was also taken into account in another area: Theegarten-Pactec has modified the forming shoulder for the production of paper-based form-fill-seal bags on the FPC5. Due to the material used and the geometry adapted to fit the packaging material, there is no risk of the paper creasing or even tearing during the formation of the flow pack.

Theegarten-Pactec has even taken the packaging process with the sustainable material a step further. For example, the FPC5 is equipped in such a way that so-called "gusseting", i.e. indentation of the packaging material at the cross fin, can be easily accommodated with the paper packaging, ensuring that the paper does not tear at this point either. This allows a straight packaging end to be formed from paper. A wide cross fin, which would make it difficult to pack the chocolate bars in further, secondary packaging and would take up unnecessary space, is thus effectively avoided. With the BLM cartoner, Theegarten-Pactec can also supply the right machine for secondary packaging in cartons. The cartoner is designed to fit perfectly with a primary packaging machine in the high-performance range. The combination of horizontal form, fill and seal machine and cartoner thus enables efficient primary and secondary packaging using paper-based packaging materials.

Thanks to Theegarten-Pactec's patent-pending solution, manufacturers in the confectionery industry can now offer the perfect response to consumer and trade demand and score points with sustainable packaging alternatives.

High-performance packaging system delivers outstanding results all along the line
Problem solved: to increase its packaging capacity, the Nordic company Orkla needed new machines for packaging their chocolate products at their factory in Vaajakoski, Finland. At the same time, Theegarten-Pactec was looking for a partner to take part in industrial trials of their new high-performance CHS packaging machine. Following installation in March 2021 and a successful test phase, Orkla was convinced, and the company has recently decided to invest in Theegarten-Pactec’s solution.

Founded in 1654 as a Norwegian mining company, Orkla is now one of the leading brand manufacturers in the Nordic and the Baltic states. The conglomerate has changed its focus over the decades and now manufactures products for various market sectors, from hygiene and personal care products right through to baking ingredients, food and confectionery. Around 15 percent of Orkla’s total operating income is currently generated by its Confectionery & Snacks business area alone. In addition to crisps, biscuits and crispbread, confectionery and chocolate can also be found in its product portfolio. It includes famous brands like KiMs, Nidar, Göteborgs Kex, Sætre, OLW, Panda, Laima, Selga, Adazu and Kalev.

Orkla previously used two rather old packaging machines to wrap chocolate pralines at its Vaajakoski site in Finland. These had reached the limits of their performance some time ago as they could no longer keep up with the high output of the chocolate moulding line. The machines were able to wrap one third of the products that came off the production line. Two thirds were placed in temporary storage due to the lack of packaging capacity and only transferred to the packaging process after production was completed. The process urgently needed to be improved.

“We first discussed various packaging solutions with Orkla in Finland in very general terms back in 2015,” says Daniel Schibur, Head of Sales at Theegarten-Pactec, thinking back to the start of the partnership. “We then picked up the conversation again in 2018 and thought about how we could increase packaging capacity quickly and effectively.” The initial discussions held with the customer were about replacing its two lower-performance packaging machines with two proven high-performance MCC packaging machines from Theegarten-Pactec. Each machine was to wrap 1,200 products per minute efficiently and gently and thus get the moulding line’s entire production volume wrapped. Intermediate storage and delayed packing were thus to become history.

Maximum confidence in the packaging solutions from Theegarten-Pactec
Not long afterwards, however, Orkla’s focus turned towards another alternative when Theegarten-Pactec told the company about its latest customised solution for the confectionery industry: the optimised high-performance CHS packaging machine, designed specifically for chocolate products with various types of wrapping. It had already been through intensive tests at Theegarten-Pactec’s German headquarters in a development process lasting several years and had delivered excellent results.

“At this time, Theegarten-Pactec was looking for a partner to put the CHS through industrial trials,” recalls Arto Liimatainen, Technical Manager at Orkla. "We were excited about the prospect of getting an even more powerful packaging machine and agreed in late 2019 to set up one MCC and one CHS machine in our premises instead of two MCC machines.” This was a lucky coincidence, and also a great leap of faith.”

“This was the perfect opportunity for us to test the CHS under real-life conditions in confectionery production,” Daniel Schibur confirms. “A continuous product flow, continuous operation, different packaging materials and product qualities, cleaning and maintenance work during operation or even difficulties such as process equipment downtimes – there are lots of things that cannot be simulated. Ultimately, tests like these are essential to put the finishing touch to a new development and get it ready for the market”.

Two-lane infeed enables maximum performance
The modular high-performance CHS packaging machine, which was developed specifically to wrap chocolate products gently, was installed and commissioned at Orkla in early 2021. In addition to the general functional tests, the machine’s two-lane infeed – a unique feature of the CHS – was tested in detail. One of the main challenges was the separation of products from the continuous product flow on the main belt into the CHS’s two-lane infeed while ensuring a constant balance between the two lanes. Each of the two infeed lanes has to be supplied continuously with 900 products per minute. In the wrapping process, both lanes are merged into a single-lane flow of 1,800 products per minute.

The CHS solves this problem with an integrated camera system and sensors positioned in just the right places, which constantly check the incoming product flow on the main conveyor. The same applies for the products on their way from the main conveyor to the packaging machine. This enables the control system to determine exactly how many products are on the two-lane infeed at any time, thus ensuring that the difference between both lanes is never more than five products. This allows the CHS to achieve an output of up to 1,800 products per minute for the double twist wrapping style.

A modular machine that adapts to market requirements
Although double twist wrapping is currently the only packaging style being used to wrap chocolate products at Orkla in Finland, the machine can be adjusted flexibly to handle nine different packaging types: double twist, protected twist, top twist, side twist, foil wrap, bottom fold, side fold, Vienna fruit fold and – the latest addition – envelope fold. The machine allows the fold type and format to be changed quickly in just four hours. Most of these changes require only one person. The required packaging types are also easy to retrofit, regardless of how the CHS was originally configured at the time of delivery. Since customers have to respond quickly to new market requirements, such as resized chocolate products, Theegarten-Pactec has also increased the range of formats that the CHS can cope with. Whereas existing machines could wrap products 16 to 45 mm long, the new system offers a range of lengths between 16 and 60 mm. The Dresden-based company has also made adjustments to the width – previously 12 to 25 mm, now 12 to 35 mm – thus opening up even more application possibilities for the customers.

The people at Orkla are very happy with their new machines: “The packaging machines have given us outstanding results all along the line,” says Orkla’s Technical Manager Arto Liimatainen. “We’ve finally been able to increase our packaging capacities. It was this that prompted us to purchase the whole packaging system, comprising the CHS, the MCC and the feeding system, in October 2021.”

Theegarten-Pactec has acquired shares in the Turkish mechanical engineering company MAKREV Packaging with effect from September 1st ,2022. With this acquisition, the packaging specialist intends to respond even better to customers who require packaging solutions for the medium performance range.

Theegarten-Pactec, a packaging specialist for small-sized confectionery products based in Dresden, Germany, acquired a stake in the Turkish company MAKREV Packaging on September 1st. The Istanbul-based company was founded in 1998 and has since been manufacturing intermittent chocolate and jelly packaging machines as well as complete automation and feeding systems. MAKREV's machines achieve a packaging output of up to 900 pieces per minute for jelly products and hard candy and 400 pieces per minute for chocolate products.

Through the acquisition, Theegarten-Pactec aims to complement its product portfolio and become more attractive to customers in the mid-performance and price segments below the high-performance machines built in Dresden. "This step is exactly the right one for our long-term success," says Markus Rustler, CEO of Theegarten-Pactec. "MAKREV machines are solidly constructed and produced to the highest quality. They have an impeccable reputation in the industry."

MAKREV, in turn, is expected to benefit from the Dresden-based packaging specialist's worldwide sales and service network as a result of the cooperation. So far, MAKREV has mainly been active in the Middle East, North Africa, the CIS, and India.

In addition to the sales cooperation, Theegarten-Pactec CEO Markus Rustler will take on tasks in MAKREV's management. As a member of the board, he will actively shape the further development of the company in the future. Despite the cooperation, both companies will continue to operate independently on the market and serve the different market segments.

"Through this cooperation, we are on the one hand strengthening the Dresden location as a place of know-how for the construction of high-performance machines. On the other hand, with MAKREV's market access, we will also be able to offer new customers competitive solutions from the medium performance range that meet our quality standards in the future," Markus Rustler concludes.